Prequel: Danger Lurking
by Wildfire10
Summary: Eight moons after the Battle of the Splash, and three moons after Mintsplash had her kits, Sparrowkit finds herself haunted by an ominous cat she doesn't even know. Cats will come for something much more than revenge. An old legend come to life to destroy all that the Clans have ever known. No trolls please!
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE SEQUEL TO ONE SPLASH, THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ ONE SPLASH, PLEASE READ IT BEFORE YOU READ THIS!  
**

**Allegiances**

**MistClan**

**Leader Robinstar- reddish-brown tom with amber eyes**

**Deputy Whitestalker- white tom with black tail-tip with green eyes**

** Apprentice- Wolfpaw**

**Medicine Cat Heartpelt- ginger she-cat with a white tail-tip and amber eyes**

**Warriors**

**Bramblewish- brown tabby tom with blue eyes**

**Snowsong- white she-cat with amber eyes**

**Apprentice- Sandpaw**

**Spottedfrost- silver she-cat with black and white flecks and icy blue eyes**

**Graytail- gray tabby tom with green eyes**

**Apprentice- Swiftpaw  
**

**Berryclaw- reddish-brown tabby tom with green eyes**

**Forestwish- white tabby she-cat with green eyes**

**Heatmuzzle- ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes**

**Frostmist- silver and white tabby she-cat with green eyes**

**Fallowclaw- black tom with dark green eyes**

**Apprentice- Beechpaw**

**Poppyheart- dark brown tabby she-cat with a white tail-tip and dark green eyes**

**Smokesplash- black tom with amber eyes**

**Flowermist- light brown tabby she-cat with dark green eyes**

**Snaketail- black tom with white tabby stripes and amber eyes  
**

**Flameclaw- brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
**

**Rivertail- silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
**

**Flintstream- tawny-colored tom with amber eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Tigerpaw  
**

**Apprentices**

**Sandpaw- pale ginger she-kit with icy blue eyes**

**Wolfpaw- pale gray tabby tom with green eyes**

**Beechpaw- ginger tabby tom with icy blue eyes and white paws**

**Tigerpaw- brown tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Swiftpaw- white tom with green eyes  
**

**Queens**

**Hawkwing- ginger-brown she-cat with amber eyes, mother of Graytail's kits, Firekit (ginger she-kit with amber eyes), Juniperkit (gray tabby she-kit with amber eyes), Shortkit (pale gray tabby tom with amber eyes), Spiderkit (dark gray tom with green eyes), Dreamkit (ghostly pale ginger she-kit with bright green eyes), and Pouncekit (ginger-brown tabby tom with green eyes)**

**Mintsplash- silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes and a white tail-tip, mother of Bramblewish's kits, Foxkit (ginger tabby she-kit with blue eyes), Splashkit (brown tabby she-kit with one white splotch on her right eye, blue eyes), and Sparrowkit (silver tabby she-kit with a silver-brown tail-tip and amber eyes)**

**Elders**

**Willowfur- brown she-cat with blue eyes**

**FireClan**

**Leader Swiftstar- ginger tabby tom with gray eyes**

**Deputy Jaymist- blue-silver tom with amber eyes**

** Apprentice- Dragonpaw**

**Medicine Cat Flamefur- fiery ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes**

**Apprentice- Rosepaw**

**Warriors**

**Stormfire- fiery ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes**

**Apprentice- Rainpaw**

**Squirrelfrost- white and ginger tom with dark blue eyes**

**Apprentice- Lakepaw**

**Treewhisker- ginger-brown tabby she-cat with green eyes**

**Streamclaw- blue-gray she-cat with dark blue eyes**

**Thistletail- dark ginger tom with white ear-tips and green eyes**

**Hollytail- pale ginger she-cat with green eyes**

**Apprentice- Leopardpaw**

**Brightfrost- fiery ginger she-cat with gray eyes**

**Apprentice- Rabbitpaw**

**Eaglemist- reddish-ginger tom with dark blue eyes**

**Splashfoot- fiery ginger tom with reddish-ginger paws and gray eyes**

**Talonwing- ginger-brown tabby tom with a ginger muzzle and dark blue eyes**

**Apprentice- Dogpaw**

**Pinefur- dark ginger she-cat with green eyes**

**Apprentice- Badgerpaw**

**Sparrowstorm- pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes**

**Mistyheart- pale ginger she-cat with gray eyes**

**Apprentices**

**Dogpaw- bright ginger tom with gray eyes**

**Rainpaw- reddish-ginger tom with white flecks and gray eyes**

**Lakepaw- ginger she-cat with a white splotch on her forehead with gray eyes**

**Dragonpaw- reddish-ginger tom with gray eyes**

**Leopardpaw- ginger and white she-cat with amber eyes**

**Rabbitpaw- pale ginger and white tom with dark blue eyes**

**Rosepaw- pale ginger she-cat with dark blue eyes**

**Badgerpaw- ginger tom with a white stripe and amber eyes**

**Queens**

**None**

**Elders**

**Redpelt- reddish-ginger tom with gray eyes**

**Mumbletail- fiery ginger she-cat with dark blue eyes**

**ShadeClan**

**Leader Raggedstar- dark gray she-cat with icy blue eyes**

** Apprentice- Tawnypaw**

**Deputy Featherlight- black she-cat with green eyes**

**Medicine Cat Blackfeather- black tom with dark gray eyes**

** Apprentice- Lilypaw**

**Warriors**

**Brokenheart- dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes**

**Shadowfall- black tabby tom with yellow eyes**

**Dustfur- dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes**

**Apprentice- Nightpaw**

**Rustflight- tortoiseshell tom with yellow eyes**

**Pinefrost- black tom with icy blue eyes**

**Deadfeather- black tabby tom with gray paws and amber eyes**

**Duskfoot- black she-cat with white paws and yellow eyes**

**Apprentices**

**Tawnypaw- dark brown she-cat with black patches and green eyes**

**Lilypaw- dark brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes**

**Nightpaw- black she-cat with amber eyes**

**Queens**

**Lizardheart- dark gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes, nursing Rustflight's kits, Olivekit (dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes), Yellowkit (tortoiseshell she-kit with yellow eyes), Velvetkit (tortoiseshell and white she-kit with yellow eyes), Lynxkit (gray tabby tom with a white chest spot with yellow eyes), Rowankit (tortoiseshell tom with bright ginger patches, yellow eyes), and Ratkit (dark gray tom with yellow eyes)**

**Elders**

**Flashtail- black tom with a white tail-tip, yellow eyes**

**Prologue**

Robinstar watched MistClan down below him. He watched Sandpaw and Beechpaw tussle in front of the newly reinforced apprentices' den. Most all of the remnants of the fire had vanished. Even then, it lived in many of MistClan's cat's hearts. Robinstar smiled as he looked down at Hawkwing and her mate, Graytail, watch Firekit and Dreamkit practice their hunting skills on Heartpelt's tail.

Robinstar looked down at Mintsplash as she took her kits into the light of day for the first time. Sparrowkit's eyes grew wide and Foxkit smiled while Splashkit looked up at the sky. But an ominous voice reached Robinstar's head, and he still remembered what Rainfern had whispered in his ear. Robinstar shuddered, shaking his head violently, as though trying to clear the thought.

Heartpelt looked up at him and smiled and Whitestalker stood underneath Tallrock, where Robinstar was standing, and watched the Clan.

Robinstar leapt down from Tallrock and padded up to Whitestalker. "Whitestalker, I must speak with you," Robinstar meowed, a hint of desperation showing in his voice. Whitestalker, obviously noticing this, nodded and followed Robinstar into the leader's den.

Robinstar turned to Whitestalker. "There is another prophecy, Whitestalker," Robinstar meowed.

Whitestalker narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is it, sir?"

"I think it's about Mintsplash's kits. The prophecy is, '_a new danger lurks about, and the mint must grow roots to hold before the code can crumble,'_"Robinstar recited.

Whitestalker's eyes grew distant with thought before he mewed, "So we must be ready for whatever this prophecy means."

Robinstar nodded. Whitestalker dipped his head. "I will go now, Robinstar. I must speak with Heartpelt about this."

Robinstar nodded again and twitched his tail dismissively. Whitestalker dipped his head again and then padded out of the den. Robinstar looked after him. He felt a stirring deep within him, as though something was calling him to remember some memory.

"Oh, if only I could think straight!" Robinstar hissed and thought hard, trying to remember. All he could think about was the prophecy.

_A new danger lurks about, and the mint must grow roots to hold before the code can crumble._

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

**Me: So like, I started this new thing and I sat here for a day, thinking about my allegiances. It took me forever to think of who died and who didn't. By the way, you may have noticed that not as many MistClan cats died in battle, but you'll understand that later. You also will understand what happened to Flamingspirit. All loose ends from One Splash will be tied up in this book, trust me.**

**Robinstar: I am Robinstar, and I approve of this message.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sparrowkit awoke to the mewls of her sisters. She turned away from them, grumbling, and curled up.

"Come on, Sparrowkit! Wake up!" Sparrowkit heard Foxkit hiss. Sparrowkit opened her eyes to slits and looked up into the ginger tabby face of her sister, Foxkit. Sparrowkit pushed her away and sat up, scratching behind her ear with one hind leg.

A brown tabby she-kit bounced over to Sparrowkit. "Yeah! Sparrowkit's awake!" Splashkit announced.

The older kits, Hawkwing's kits, bounded over to Sparrowkit, Splashkit, and Foxkit. A small pale gray tabby tom bounced up to Sparrowkit. "Good morning, Sparrowkit!" he meowed.

Sparrowkit narrowed her eyes. "Oh, Shortkit! I really wanted to get a good rest in!" Sparrowkit hissed.

A ginger-brown tabby tom and a ghostly pale ginger she-kit bounced after Shortkit. Shortkit turned to his brother and sister. Sparrowkit looked up at Mintsplash, her mother, who was looking down at the kits with pride. Mintsplash stood up and meowed, "All right, all right, you get your wish. C'mon, my kits. Hawkwing? May your kits come too?"

Hawkwing nodded where she lay. "Sure, Mintsplash. You can take my kits out to the fresh-kill pile with yours."

Mintsplash flicked her tail and the kits followed her out into the crisp, spring morning light. Mintsplash led the kits over to a pile of fresh-kill located underneath the twin brother of Tallrock. A pale ginger she-cat with icy blue eyes, a ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes, a white tom with a black tail-tip and green eyes, a reddish-brown tom with amber eyes, and a black tom with green eyes all lay by the fresh-kill pile, eating.

Mintsplash looked at the black tom and smiled, the two brushed muzzles. "Fallowclaw, nice to see you! How's training with Beechpaw going?" Mintsplash asked, her voice full of warmth.

Fallowclaw smiled. "Great! I just took him out on a hunting lesson!" Fallowclaw meowed.

Sparrowkit studied this new cat. He looked powerful, rather broad in the shoulders, but friendly. Sparrowkit smiled when she remembered this was her uncle! Sparrowkit sat down, her tail twitching happily. Splashkit padded up to the reddish-brown tom and asked, "Who are you?"

The tom sat up, abandoning his thrush and smiled, mewing, "I am Robinstar, leader of your Clan."

Sparrowkit, Foxkit, and Splashkit's ears pricked as they stared at him in awe. Mintsplash chuckled and meowed, "Oh, Robinstar. Stop showing off!"

Robinstar smiled and turned to the white tom and began to speak with him. Sparrowkit would have listened curiously, but instead she was shoved away by another kit, a ghostly pale ginger she-kit. "Dreamkit!" Sparrowkit squeaked.

Dreamkit shook her head and meowed nonchalantly, "You needn't listen to what Robinstar is saying. Besides, you shouldn't eavesdrop."

Sparrowkit lashed her tail. "I can if I want to!" she snarled. "Nobody likes you, anyway!"

Dreamkit jumped at her snarl, obviously not expecting it. Dreamkit flattened her ears and whispered, "You don't really mean that!"

"Of course I do! Otherwise, why would I say it?" Sparrowkit spat.

Dreamkit looked at her for a moment. _Why are you saying that, Sparrowkit? _Dreamkit's eyes said. Sparrowkit turned away to find a dark gray tom kit staring at her.

The dark gray kit turned away and padded off to a pale ginger apprentice. Dreamkit slunk away to Hawkwing, and nobody was left to stand beside Sparrowkit. Sparrowkit lashed her tail. "Who cares, anyway?" she hissed.

Sparrowkit padded away from the others to lay beside the nursery, despising the other cats' joy as she lay in loneliness. Suddenly, amber eyes shown from behind the nursery in the shadows. Sparrowkit stood, tail-tip twitching nervously, and she slowly padded towards those glowing eyes. Sparrowkit's eyes widened as the outline of a golden tabby tom stepped out.

Sparrowkit looked from side to side to find that no one was looking or had seemed to notice this ominous cat's presence. Sparrowkit then looked back at the cat. "Wh-who are you?" she stammered.

The golden tabby dipped his head to be level with her. "I am Brackenstar. I am a cat of the Dark Forest, misjudged by StarClan, once leader of MistClan," he meowed.

Sparrowkit narrowed her eyes. "How do I know I can trust you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Because I am the only cat who has come to respect you," Brackenstar mewed.

Sparrowkit paused. It was true. All of the other kits never respected her because she was small. They had always fought against her and won, she was so weak! Sparrowkit remembered the time when Foxkit had challenged her to steal a piece of fresh-kill from Splashkit and she had failed miserably. Sparrowkit had always been defeated in play-fights, and she was always the last one to get to suckle because the other two were stronger than her. She had always had a hard time against other cats.

"I can teach you how to fight. You can learn how to defeat your littermates in a play-fight. How to defeat the other Clans. You can be the strongest warrior ever known. All you have to do is take my paw," Brackenstar meowed, holding out his forepaw.

Sparrowkit considered the possibilities. She could even become leader of MistClan! That had always been her wish. Sparrowkit wanted to show her littermates she was just as strong. So she placed her paw in his. At that moment, she heard Foxkit bounding toward her, and Brackenstar meowed, "I will meet you tonight," before evaporating into mist.

Sparrowkit turned to Foxkit. "What is it?" she asked, but she wasn't really interested.

Foxkit began rambling on about some cat named Wolfpaw, but Sparrowkit wasn't listening anymore. Her thoughts were upon Brackenstar. Such a powerful cat he was! If Sparrowkit could learn from him, she would be the strongest warrior in the Clan!

Just then, Mintsplash called to her kits and Sparrowkit jumped after her littermates into the nursery, excited to meet Brackenstar that night.

**(Sparrowkit's Dreams****)**

****Sparrowkit awoke to find herself in a forest. Mist swirled around her and a black, churning river cut through the land a couple of fox-lengths away. Sparrowkit's ears pricked when a twig snapped and she whipped around to see Brackenstar stepping out of the bushes. "Brackenstar!" she squeaked.

Brackenstar smiled. "I'm glad you came," he meowed.

Sparrowkit narrowed her eyes, "It's not like I had a choice."

Brackenstar chuckled and took a step forward. Suddenly, Brackenstar launched himself at Sparrowkit. Sparrowkit squeaked and attempted to leap away, but Brackenstar caught her tail and sent her tumbling to the ground. Brackenstar leapt to one side, then leapt to the other side, then leapt at her. Sparrowkit screeched as she was blown away by a paw swipe. Sparrowkit skidded on the ground, somehow on her paws, and leapt at Brackenstar as he leapt at her.

Sparrowkit evaded Brackenstar's lashing paws and bit into his nose. Brackenstar skidded to a halt, landing on his paws on the ground, and shook his head vigorously. Sparrowkit fastened her claws on his muzzle, hissing.

Brackenstar lifted his muzzle to the sky, then struck it into the ground. Sparrowkit mostly evaded this, but her tail was pinned down. Sparrowkit tugged, trying to get away, and Brackenstar picked her up by her tail. Sparrowkit hissed as she was thrown away... straight into the water. Sparrowkit opened her mouth to screech, but it was only filled with the frigid black water. Sparrowkit's fur dragged her downward as she struggled to keep her head above the water.

Sparrrowkit didn't even know how to swim yet! She may be a MistClan cat, but the new-leaf rains were only just beginning, and Sparrowkit hadn't investigated puddles yet. Sparrowkit was dragged underwater and she flailed violently, trying to swim.

_Oh, if I only knew how to swim! _Sparrowkit thought angrily. Sparrowkit struggled against the water, her lungs screaming for air. She needed oxygen now! Sparrowkit's desperation caused her not to realize that she was managing to swim upward. When she burst to the surface, Sparrowkit took in a deep breath before being plunged back under.

Panic overwhelmed her, but Sparrowkit swallowed it down and swam the best she could towards the shore. Sparrowkit struggled against the churning water, and found ground against her paws. Sparrowkit dragged herself from the water and lay down, coughing and spluttering. Sparrowkit took deep gulps of air, so happy to be on the soft ground.

Oh, ground! How happy Sparrowkit was to be on the ground! Sparrowkit was practically kissing the ground when Brackenstar padded up to her. Sparrowkit looked up at him. "What was that for?" she hissed.

"You need to be ready at all times for attack. That is one true key to being a strong warrior," Brackenstar instructed.

Sparrowkit then noticed the hot liquid pouring down her back and she turned, alarmed. There it was, a gash on her side that was streaming with blood. Sparrowkit stared at it for a moment, uncertain of what to do, before checking herself over. It seemed as though the rest of her was fine. Sparrowkit sighed, "Oh, you should have told me that's what you were doing."

Brackenstar smiled and meowed, "You won't meet me for another three moons. When you're an apprentice we will meet again in the Dark Forest, the Place of No Stars. Farewell, Sparrowkit, little warrior."

Sparrowkit watched as everything around her swirled and became disfigured. After what seemed like moons, Sparrowkit awoke to dawn light pouring in to the nursery, and a regular day began, but for Sparrowkit, her thoughts were all upon Brackenstar, the mysterious ancient leader of MistClan. The Dark Forest he had called the place, the Place of No Stars.

**Me: Long chapter. You can see where this whole charade is going. I'm so tired, I'm going to die now...**

**Sparrowkit: I must inform you all that Sparrowflight7 does not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_The splash will fall, paving the way for the danger to come and ruin all._ Sparrowkit awoke with a start to hear the voice of a she-cat whisper that in her ear. Sparrowkit raised her head to find her littermates play-fighting before Mintsplash and Mintsplash looking at Splashkit and Foxkit with pride. Sparrowkit stood up and smiled.

"Mom. Is it time?" Splashkit asked Mintsplash.

It had been three moons. The kits were ready to become apprentices. A few moons ago, Hawkwing's kits had become apprentices, and it had been rather lonesome without them. Sparrowkit leapt to her paws, excited. Today was the day! Sparrowkit smiled, she was so excited! Not only would she become an apprentice, she would see Brackenstar again! Sparrowkit hadn't told any of her littermates about it, or Mintsplash. She was determined to keep it a secret so her Clanmates would be impressed.

A call from Robinstar sent the three kits stumbling out of the nursery. Sparrowkit held herself proudly as she walked. She remembered her old denmates' mentors. Shortpaw to Bramblewish, Dreampaw to Spottedfrost, Spiderpaw to Berryclaw, Firepaw to Flowermist, Juniperpaw to Poppyheart, and Pouncepaw to Smokesplash.

Sparrowkit hoped their mentors would be just as good as she and her littermates leapt up onto Tallrock when Robinstar called to them.

"Splashkit, do you wish to learn the ways of the Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Robinstar asked.

"I do," was all Splashkit said.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I, Robinstar, leader of MistClan, pronounce you as an apprentice, from now on until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Splashpaw. Splashpaw, your mentor shall be Forestwish. Forestwish, you have endured many terrible things in life since your mate, Adderstar, became deputy. You have shown your loyalty to the Clan and I entrust that you will teach Splashpaw everything you know," Robinstar announced.

Frostmist dipped her head as Splashpaw bounded down to her, a solemn look across her face.

Robinstar smiled sympathetically before turning to Foxkit. "Foxkit, you, however, have chosen a different path. Foxkit, is it your wish to learn the ways of a medicine cat under Heartpelt and swear never to harm a cat with herbs and have a special connection with StarClan and the other Clans?"

"I do," Foxkit meowed as Sparrowkit and Splashpaw gaped at her. Neither had suspected Foxkit to become a medicine cat!

"Then I, Robinstar, leader of MistClan, give you your medicine cat apprentice name, Foxkit, from this moment until you receive your medicine cat name, you will be known as Foxpaw. Heartpelt, I know you are a loyal and trustworthy medicine cat, and I know that you will teach Foxpaw all you know," Robinstar singled Heartpelt out.

Sparrowkit watched, still surprised, as Foxpaw sprang down to Heartpelt, sitting next to her and looking up at Sparrowkit.

Robinstar looked at Sparrowkit and asked, "Sparrowkit, do you wish to learn the warrior code and the ways of this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Sparrowkit meowed, feeling the weight of every cat's stare, "I do."

"Then from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sparrowpaw, and I, Robinstar, leader of MistClan, ask my ancestors to watch over your training. Heatmuzzle, you will be mentor to Sparrowpaw. Heatmuzzle, you have shown strength and courage, and ever since your mate, Ivyheart, died, and you lied to your supposed kits, you have been a much better warrior. I hope that you pass down all you have learned to Sparrowpaw," Robinstar announced.

Immediately, as Sparrowpaw jumped down and touched noses with Heatmuzzle, tension practically overwhelmed Sparrowpaw. All of it was from Mintsplash and Heatmuzzle. The two warriors stood, staring straight into the eyes of the other, and no cat could tell what message went between the two. Sparrowpaw stood, and once Mintsplash turned away, padded over to her littermates.

Both of her littermates were crowded by Shortpaw, Spiderpaw, Dreampaw, Juniperpaw, Firepaw, and Pouncepaw. Sparrowpaw pushed through the cats and smiled, meowing, "Can you believe it? We're apprentices now! And Foxpaw, why did you decide to be a medicine cat apprentice?"

Foxpaw smiled, "Well, I've helped Heartpelt before, and I loved it! I had so much fun! And I felt so great whenever I helped Snowsong out! So I decided that's what I wanted to do!"

Sparrowpaw smiled, but a sad look came across her face. "Too bad you won't be sleeping with us," Sparrowpaw mewed.

Foxpaw chuckled, "It'll be fine!"

Sparrowpaw smiled and twitched her tail, meowing, "Me, Shortpaw, Dreampaw, Juniperpaw, Firepaw, Pouncepaw, Spiderpaw, and Splashpaw are going to go check out our den, okay?"

"Alright! I'll go check out mine!" Foxpaw meowed, bouncing away into the medicine cats' den.

When Sparrowpaw entered the apprentices' den, excitement almost pushed her over. She was an apprentice and she was going to see Brackenstar again!

**Me: Ah, yes, the end of another chapter. I'm so happy when a ceremony happens! XD This is when the fun starts! For me, anyway! **

**Sparrowflight: Oh, quit being happy about the future! You know it's way more serious than that!  
**

**Me: I know. But all of the good stuff happens after cats become apprentices/warriors!  
**

**Sparrowflight: You have a lot to learn...  
**

**Me: Maybe, but you died by saving everyone! You saved Mintsplash and allowed everyone to be happy! But happiness never lasts. It's so sad... and you can't get more noble than saving everybody! You know a lot of things that I don't, but even then, we both know the future!  
**

**Sparrowflight: Indeed...  
**

**Me: Maybe not in the same way though...  
**

**Sparrowflight: Nope...  
**

***Awkward silence*  
**

**Me: Anywho, oh, and who ever uses that term anyway? Anyways, I'd better put the disclaimer up.  
**

**Sparrowflight: Now _that _I agree with!  
**

**I do not own, or claim to jnojjhgiaifn...  
**

**Me: Sparrowpaw! Stop messing with it!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Sorry!  
**

**Me: *sighs* I'm sorry for this disruption. Hopefully it will work correctly this time! ;(  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sparrowpaw leapt at Brackenstar, she slashed his shoulder lightly before he batted her away. Sparrowpaw hissed and bristled, making him snicker, and leapt at him. Brackenstar, clearly expecting her attempt at a surprise attack, rolled onto his back and scored her belly as she flew over him. Brackenstar leapt to his paws and sprang at Sparrowpaw. Sparrowpaw was still lying on the ground and she twisted, trying to get away, but Brackenstar was too fast for her. Brackenstar landed on Sparrowpaw's hindquarters and began raking his claws down her hind legs.

Brackenstar's ears pricked and Sparrowpaw felt someone shoving her, she twisted to look and found no one was there. Then, the ground disappeared from beneath her, and Sparrowpaw fell into nothingness, spinning faster and faster, before she landed before Foxpaw. Sparrowpaw raised her head, pain searing through her hind leg.

Foxpaw mewed, "You're hurt, Sparrowpaw! What did you do?!"

Sparrowpaw looked up at her. "I'm fine," she hissed, annoyed by her sister's nosiness.

"But this is the first night being an apprentice! You must be cursed!" Foxpaw practically yowled for the whole Clan to hear.

"Be quiet, Foxpaw!" Sparrowpaw hissed. "I'm fine!"

Foxpaw narrowed her eyes and hissed, "No, you're not! You're bleeding! And rather heavily I might add!"

Sparrowpaw snorted and stood. Despite the pain searing through her leg and her blood oozing from her wound, Sparrowpaw padded out of the medicine cats' den to find Shortpaw running over to her, Beechpaw and Wolfpaw, who were by the fresh-kill pile, were snickering.

"Sparrowpaw! Sparrowpaw's alright!" Shortpaw screeched, and seemingly the whole Clan looked up.

Sparrowpaw walked past Shortpaw, heading straight for Beechpaw and Wolfpaw as if he wasn't there. Shortpaw walked beside Sparrowpaw like she was the nicest she-cat in the Clan. "Sparrowpaw, you-you're bleeding!" Shortpaw yowled, alarmed.

Sparrowpaw halted and watched as he grew pale and melted to the ground, fainting. Sparrowpaw stared at him for a moment before padding over to Wolfpaw and Beechpaw.

"Hey, Sparrowpaw. What was Stumpytail over there asking?" asked Beechpaw, snickering.

Sparrowpaw grinned. Wolfpaw chuckled, "You know, Sparrowpaw, old Stumpy is sure getting restless."

Sparrowpaw looked at him with confusion. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"You haven't noticed?!" Wolfpaw looked shocked at what she had said.

Sparrowpaw stared at him for a moment, confused. Then she got it, and glared at him. "Oh, I definitely don't like Stumpytail over there! Who likes him anyway?!" Sparrowpaw spat towards the pale gray tabby puffball of Shortpaw lying in the middle of camp.

Beechpaw wrinkled his nose and hissed, "Sandpaw does. And now she's avoiding us like we're fox-dung!"

"Heh, speaking of fox-dung, Foxpaw's getting so worked up over my little wound!" Sparrowpaw growled, lashing her tail as she thought of her sister poking into all of her thoughts.

Beechpaw sighed, "I feel so bad for you, Sparrowpaw."

Wolfpaw nodded and agreed, "Yeah, me too."

Sparrowpaw cocked her head and asked, "Why?"

"You have a medicine cat apprentice for a sister. Those are the worst. They always poke into everything you do! All of your secrets and everything!" Beechpaw whispered, but his voice rose slightly as he spoke.

"How do you know, Beechpaw?" Sparrowpaw demanded.

Beechpaw looked from side to side and whispered, "Heartpelt was just like that when she was an apprentice!"

Sparrowpaw leaned in closer. "Really?" she glanced at Wolfpaw.

Beechpaw nodded. "Yeah, and Lionfrost kinda liked a she-cat in another Clan," he meowed.

"Wow, who was it?" Sparrowpaw asked curiously.

"A she-cat in FireClan named Pinefur. But the two of them only got together three times," Beechpaw meowed.

Sparrowpaw studied him. "Are you sure this isn't one of Willowfur's crazed tales?" she asked skeptically.

Beechpaw shook his head. "Definitely not! Well, Heartpelt could tell something was up, so she began to question Lionfrost after the first time Lionfrost met up with Pinefur. Lionfrost was pretty reluctant to tell Heartpelt the truth, but worried she would find out. Therefore, he postponed his second meeting with Pinefur for the next week. When Lionfrost went out the second time, it was storming, and Heartpelt found him the next morning soaked in his nest. So Heartpelt began to pry him again. The third time Lionfrost went out, Heartpelt saw him as she took some herbs to Cloudstar for greencough, so, Heartpelt followed Lionfrost and stopped him from meeting up with Pinefur, forever. You see, medicine cat siblings are the worst! They pry for your secrets until you give up or they find out!" Beechpaw whispered.

Sparrowpaw's eyes widened, _I hope Foxpaw doesn't think that I'm meeting Brackenstar! If she does, she'll think he's evil, which I know he's not! StarClan are just stupid enough to force him out of their ranks! _Sparrowpaw narrowed her eyes.

"I've gotta go, it's getting late," Sparrowpaw mewed, pointing her nose to the now rising moon. Sparrowpaw swept away before Beechpaw or Wolfpaw could say anything.

Sparrowpaw curled up her nest and that ominous voice from many nights before haunted her in her dreams; _The splash will fall, paving the way for the danger to come and ruin all._

**Me: Ah, prophecies.**

**Splashpaw: I star in the next chapter! XD  
**

**Sparrowpaw: *grumbles* You don't need to brag about it!  
**

**Splashpaw: Oh, shut up! You've been in all the other chapters! Except for maybe the prologue...  
**

**Foxpaw: That's because Robinstar's awesome enough to dream about a prophecy instead of being told like Cloudstar in One Splash!  
**

**Robinstar: Did somebody mention me?  
**

**Sandpaw: Oh my StarClan...  
**

**Robinstar: What, Sandpaw?  
**

**Sandpaw: It's Robinstar! The awesomest leader in the whole wide world!  
**

**Robinstar: Okay...  
**

**Beechpaw: Sandpaw! Quit bugging Robinstar!  
**

**Sandpaw: Fine... *walks away, grumbling*  
**

**Me: Do we have a conversation every chapter now!?  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Yes.  
**

**Me: Okay, all thanks to SwiftStar1 for giving me both prophecies! If anyone reads this, they should go and read Swifty's stories and Lilysplash's stories! And seriously, I thank you Swifty! 'Cause I couldn't think of any prophecies!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: By the way, if any of you were wondering, Sparrowflight7 did not know SwiftStar1 existed whenever she created the leader of FireClan, Swiftstar. But it is ironic!  
**

**Me: Oh, and by the way, just for randomness' sake, CHEESE AND SPRINKLES!  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Splashpaw jumped through the forest after her mentor, Forestwish. She panted as she struggled to keep up. That morning Splashpaw had found Sparrowpaw bleeding her heart out and had quickly rushed her into the medicine cats' den. Splashpaw shook her head. She couldn't worry about her sister at this moment! She needed to focus on what Forestwish was telling her.

Forestwish began, "This is the Hollow Tree. HeartClan was once a Clan of our territories. All of the territories were set up differently then. HeartClan had most of our territory and part of ShadeClan's. We used to live where FireClan lives now. FireClan lived just behind the Gathering place, barely connected to past MistClan territory and past ShadeClan territory. ShadeClan used to live off of our new borders, more towards the Twolegplace beyond their present borders. They lived in more of a vertical shape towards the Moontrees, in the center of our territories.

"ShadeClan then was once ruled by an evil and mischievous leader, Ashstar. When ShadeClan attacked HeartClan, the HeartClan cats fled here. Ashstar, being the best tracker in all of ShadeClan at the time, found HeartClan and destroyed their ranks. Many of the HeartClan cats were driven out of the territories as rogues. Some, but very few, even managed to join other Clans," Forestwish added.

Splashpaw stared at the Hollow Tree as Forestwish spoke. She could see the claw marks of the past and she sniffed the air. An unfamiliar scent faintly came to Splashpaw's nose. It smelled of birds, moss, trees, and cats. Splashpaw stared at the claw marks and padded up to them. She unsheathed her claws and slid them along the claw marks. Her claws fit in the deeper part of the slash, in the middle, almost like a claw mark inside of another. Splashpaw suddenly realized Forestwish was calling her. She turned and looked at her mentor, following her away from the Hollow Tree.

Forestwish led her across the territory to an old willow tree that appeared to have fallen over from centuries ago. Forestwish smiled and mewed, "This is the Ancient Willow. It was tipped over from an earthquake caused by StarClan moons ago." Her smile faded and she began again, "The story behind this is-"

"Forestwish! Help!" The screech came as a cat burst through the bushes. It was none other than Pouncepaw. The apprentice's eyes were wide with shock.

"What is it Pouncepaw?" Forestwish asked urgently.

Pouncepaw explained quickly, "Me, Smokesplash, Heatmuzzle, Snowsong, and Berryclaw were doing a border patrol near off-Clan territory, nearby ShadeClan territory, when we were attacked! We were attacked by rogues!"

Forestwish bristled. "Then let's go!" she hissed. "Lead the way, Pouncepaw!"

Pouncepaw led the other two cats quickly through the territory. Pouncepaw was bristling like mad, not stopping for a second. Splashpaw could tell it was deeply serious, the warriors really needed help. Pouncepaw's ears pricked as they ran into another patrol.

"You must come! No time to explain!" Forestwish hissed to the patrol of warriors and apprentices.

Splashpaw noticed that Robinstar, Whitestalker, Wolfpaw, and Shortpaw were on the other patrol. She narrowed her eyes, then shrugged, deciding that a deputy and a leader together on a patrol, they must have wanted to spend some time together. They probably didn't get to very often.

Pouncepaw led the other six cats straight to where he had described. The sound of fighting cats reached Splashpaw's ears. Fear rose up in side of her, but she forced down her fear and rushed on. When they arrived, Splashpaw saw that the four warriors were outnumbered. What seemed like twenty cats fought with the warriors, fur and blood flying everywhere. Splashpaw stepped forward to leap into battle, but someone caught her. She turned, snarling, ready to fight, but saw it was Whitestalker.

"You haven't had training yet. Run back to camp and get Heartpelt and your sister," Whitestalker hissed.

Splashpaw bristled. It was true, she hadn't had any training, but she wasn't prepared to just leave all of her Clanmates to battle alone. She shook her head. "No, Whitestalker, I'm going into battle! You run back and get help!" Splashpaw hissed.

Whitestalker could only stare as Splashpaw ripped away from him and sprang straight into battle. A black and white she-cat was the first rogue Splashpaw hit. Splashpaw scrabbled to her paws and the rogue lashed out at her. Splashpaw was knocked backward. The she-cat leapt on top of her and snarled, her green eyes bright with anger and hatred. Splashpaw snarled and before she knew it, the she-cat knocked her out and everything went black.

**Me: Poor Splashpaw. How could she have known that she-cat would go BLARG and knock her out. Splashpaw just wanted to help. Aw. She's so cute.**

**Splashpaw: *bristles* Who are you calling cute!?  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Hey! You know you're freakin' me and Foxpaw out and you're arguing with Sparrowflight7?! There's something wrong with you, Splashpaw.  
**

**Foxpaw: There's something wrong with both of you!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: *grumbles* Yeah, right.  
**

**Foxpaw: What!?  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Oh, the readers will see...  
**

**Foxpaw: *glares at Sparrowpaw* I don't know what you're talking about!  
**

**Snowsong: What's going on?!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Foxpaw and you are in the same boat, Snowsong.  
**

**Snowsong: What is that supposed to mean!?  
**

**Foxpaw: Yeah!?  
**

**Splashpaw: Okay... I'm not supposed to be here. Goodbye! *turns into a puff of smoke*  
**

**Me: Okay, that was a little... weird.  
**

**Foxpaw: Indeed.  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Splashpaw groaned and opened her eyes. There before her stood Sylvia, the black and white she-cat who had taken her from MistClan. Splashpaw lay in a nest in the branches of a tree. Other trees held the other rogues. Sylvia had been kind enough to prevent her from being killed by the others. The leader of the 'pack', as they had named themselves a pack after a pack of wolves, was Tiger, a fox-colored tabby tom with white paws, Splashpaw was lucky to be alive. Whatever Sylvia had told Tiger had caused him to order the other rogues to stop.

Legend had it that the pack leader had nine lives and could talk to wolves and dogs, even coyotes, whatever coyotes were, Splashpaw didn't know. Sylvia had been taking care of her, even teaching her how to hunt. It was now nearing the full moon, two weeks after Splashpaw had been captured. Sylvia had advised Splashpaw not to act against the rogues, for then Tiger would have a meaning to kill her. But Splashpaw was worried. She had a feeling that whatever Sylvia had told Tiger was not good.

"Good morning!" Sylvia meowed in her thick accent. It was completely different from any Clan cats, even the other rogues. Her voice was thick yet smooth, very perfect. There was never a rasp in Sylvia's voice. Splashpaw couldn't imagine Sylvia's voice in a rasp.

Splashpaw smiled. Sylvia had been her only friend here, ironically, and the two had come close. "Hello," Splashpaw meowed.

Sylvia smiled. "Ready to go hunting?" she asked.

"Sure!" Splashpaw exclaimed, leaping to her paws.

Splashpaw followed Sylvia out into the forest, heading farther and farther from the Clan territories. Sylvia led her to an old Twoleg barn on the territory. The smell of mice immediately flooded Splashpaw's nose.

Splashpaw purred at the smell, her mouth watering at the thought of sinking her teeth into one of those juicy mice. Sylvia signaled and both she-cats crouched, narrowing their eyes. Splashpaw placed one paw in front of the other, slowly sliding towards her target, a fat mouse crunching on a nut it apparently had found not too long ago. Splashpaw pounced, unsheathing her claws when she came to the peak of her jump, and landed upon the mouse. She gave it the death bite and raised her head to look at Sylvia, who was crouching over a mouse she had just killed.

Splashpaw tucked the mouse she had killed underneath a bale of hay in the barn. She turned to find two mice cowering from her, their black eyes wide with fear and their heads low to the ground as though to protect themselves. Splashpaw chuckled. _Do those mice really think they can get away from me? _Splashpaw pounced at the two mice. Both squealed and the older, fatter mouse leapt at her. Splashpaw squeaked as the mouse bit into her muzzle. Sylvia appeared out of nowhere and hit the mouse off of her, killing it instantly, and turned to the second. Sylvia darted forward and lashed out with one paw, killing the mouse, and picked both mice up and turned to Splashpaw.

Splashpaw's face burned with embarrassment, and she licked her chest fur a few times to try to hide it. "Don't bite off more than you can chew, Splashpaw," Sylvia mewed lightheartedly. Obviously Sylvia forgave her for sending all of the mice back to their dens and leaving the two with only a few mice to bring back.

Splashpaw and Sylvia each took two mice and began to head back to camp. Sylvia glanced at Splashpaw and meowed, "You know, if you want, you could just be accepted here."

Splashpaw looked at her with surprise. "But I thought Tiger hated me!" Splashpaw exclaimed.

Sylvia shook her head. "We could always use more cats, especially those capable of good hunting and have amazing fighting skills," Sylvia meowed.

Splashpaw studied her and mewed, "What do you mean?"

Sylvia answered her plainly, "Well, I saw you that day. The day I brought you here. Despite your orders, you decided to fight because you knew what was right. We could use cats like that."

Splashpaw bristled. "My Clan! They're so worried about me! I know it! Please, Sylvia! Let me go back to them! My sisters... they need me!" Splashpaw begged.

Sylvia stared at her a moment before replying, "Splashpaw... you realize that if you go back, no one will like you."

Splashpaw shook her head almost violently, "No! That's not true!"

"Splashpaw, your Clan hasn't even looked for you," Sylvia pointed out. "Let's face it, your Clan doesn't care for you."

Splashpaw shook her head once more, "No! That's not my Clan, Sylvia!"

"Splashpaw. You're too young. If you back, you'll find your Clan doesn't even care anymore," Sylvia explained. "It has happened to me before. There is no way that your Clan will take you back."

Splashpaw shook her head again, "No."

Sylvia smiled weakly before mewing, "Splashpaw, your Clan no longer cares. Your sisters... don't even care. Your mother... doesn't even care. And your father... hates you."

"How do you know!" Splashpaw hissed.

"I've seen them," Sylvia responded.

"No you haven't!" Splashpaw hissed.

"I have. Your father was cursing you, your mother was telling your father to stop thinking about you, and your sisters were angry at you," Sylvia mewed. "They are leaving you behind, Splashpaw."

"Which is why I must catch up to them!" Splashpaw retorted.

Sylvia hung her head. "I cannot let you."

"Why not!?" Splashpaw growled.

"I don't want you to suffer," Sylvia meowed.

Splashpaw grew silent. She didn't know what to say to her friend. What could she say? She had no proof. Only Sylvia had proof. And Splashpaw trusted her. The two she-cats soon arrived back at camp. Splashpaw leapt up into the nest first and Sylvia followed. Splashpaw felt as though she was a bird, as usual, living in a tree. Splashpaw curled up, feeling the branch bounce as the wind swayed it gently. Soon, Splashpaw was folded in the warm blanket of sleep.

**Me: Poor Splashpaw wishes to return home. I'm sure that I would. But Sylvia won't let her. I just want to let you know, in my head, for some reason, Sylvia has a Russian accent. So I can be reassured, please tell me in a review if that's what you thought of, because that's what I thought of.**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Splashpaw!" Sparrowpaw screamed as she awoke in her nest. Foxpaw was standing over her, having just awoken Sparrowpaw from her dream. The two sisters had been closer than ever since Splashpaw had gone. Mintsplash hadn't even shown her face to the Clan. The only cat who could see her was Bramblewish. Both Foxpaw and Sparrowpaw had been having terrible nightmares of their sister, dying from so many rogues. Sparrowpaw had that night dreamed of being a rogue, watching Splashpaw die before her as she stood there. When Sparrowpaw had jumped forward to help her sister, she had been nudged awake by Foxpaw. Now Sparrowpaw realized she had been screaming in her sleep.

Sparrowpaw slowly got to her paws with Foxpaw's help. A yowl from outside alerted the two sisters for a moment before they remembered it was the Gathering night, for the full moon shone high in the sky. Foxpaw led Sparrowpaw out and they saw who was coming with them. Sparrowpaw took note of it as the sisters joined the Gathering patrol.

_Obviously, Robinstar and Whitestalker and Heartpelt are coming, Bramblewish, Forestwish, Heatmuzzle, Smokesplash, Flowermist, Sandpaw, Dreampaw, Shortpaw, Juniperpaw, and me and Foxpaw. We're trying not to stir up a fight. Only our gentlest warriors are coming, _Sparrowpaw realized. The sisters sprang out of camp with the warriors and Sandpaw when Robinstar gave the signal.

Sparrowpaw padded beside her sister and Sandpaw. Robinstar led the patrol on the border line of the Moontrees, staying on the brink of the moor of FireClan territory. Movement caught Sparrowpaw's eye and she nosed some heather. A sudden cold, hard nudge from Foxpaw's nose made Sparrowpaw jump.

"What?!" Sparrowpaw hissed, glaring at her sister.

Foxpaw shook her head and mewed, "You shouldn't be looking for prey."

Sparrowpaw forced her fur to lie flat and nodded. It must have seemed that way. Really, Sparrowpaw had thought a cat was hiding there, but perhaps it was just her imagination. Sparrowpaw looked up at the moon, feeling sad. Too bad Splashpaw was gone. This was supposed to be all three sisters' first Gathering, but Splashpaw was gone. Sparrowpaw hung her head, flattening her ears. She was supposed to have looked after her sisters! But she had failed.

Sparrowpaw forced her head up when Sandpaw mewed, "Are you okay, Sparrowpaw?"

Sparrowpaw forced a smile and Sandpaw flattened her ears. "Oh yeah, Splashpaw's gone," Sandpaw concluded quickly yet sadly.

Foxpaw glanced at Sparrowpaw. "It'll be all right. Besides, this is our first Gathering, we should enjoy it!" Foxpaw reassured Sparrowpaw.

Sparrowpaw nodded meowed, "You're right, Foxpaw. We should pay attention to the bright side of things. We're apprentices! At our first Gathering! Let's be happy. Foxpaw, what do you say?"

Foxpaw nodded, "That's the spirit!" Foxpaw meowed energetically.

Suddenly, they were going up the hill to the Gathering place. When they came to the top, Sparrowpaw was stunned by how many cats there were. There were cats everywhere! Talking to one another and even grooming each others pelts! Sparrowpaw and Foxpaw stood there for a moment, staring at all of the cats, before Heatmuzzle and Heartpelt both nudged them forward. Sparrowpaw and Foxpaw stumbled forward and found themselves in the mix of a group of apprentices.

"Hey look! It's some new apprentices!" a ginger she-cat with a white splotch on her forehead from FireClan meowed to a reddish-ginger tom from the same Clan.

The reddish-ginger tom smiled and meowed, "I'm Dragonpaw and this is Lakepaw! Oh and our brothers, Rainpaw and Dogpaw!"

Dragonpaw pointed his tail at Rainpaw, a reddish-ginger tom with white flecks, and then at Dogpaw, a bright ginger tom. Dragonpaw, Rainpaw, Lakepaw, and Dogpaw all smiled, sitting next to each other.

"How old are you?" asked Sparrowpaw shyly.

"We're ten moons old now. We're going to be warriors in a moon or two," Rainpaw responded proudly.

Foxpaw smiled, "I'm the new medicine cat apprentice of MistClan! I'm Foxpaw and this is Sparrowpaw, my sister!"

Sparrowpaw looked down at her paws and mewed, "Our sister would be here tonight-"

"But Splashpaw got in trouble," Foxpaw quickly cut her off and gave Sparrowpaw a warning glance. Sparrowpaw got the message. She almost gave away information to another Clan! Sparrowpaw shook her head, shaking away all thoughts of Splashpaw and looked up at the kindly FireClan apprentices.

"Hello, are you Mintsplash's daughter?" a voice meowed from behind Sparrowpaw. Sparrowpaw twisted around to see a black tabby tom with gleaming yellow eyes. He was obviously ShadeClan.

"Hello, who are you?" Sparrowpaw asked, being as kind as possible, but truly, she didn't like this cat very much.

The tom puffed out his chest and meowed, "I am Shadowfall, warrior of ShadeClan."

"Yes, I noticed you were of ShadeClan," Sparrowpaw meowed.

Shadowfall smiled and asked, "And what is your name, Mintsplash's daughter?"

Sparrowpaw wanted to show this cat up, so she puffed out her chest with pride, disrespecting him easily. She then mewed, "My name is Sparrowpaw and this is my sister Foxpaw."

Shadowfall, obviously noticing Sparrowpaw's disrespect, snorted. "I'm sure I'll see you again, Sparrowpaw," he meowed before padding away to a tortoiseshell tom with yellow eyes.

Sparrowpaw snorted and pricked her ears when Foxpaw mewed, "Well, I've got to get to Heartpelt now, so, see you after the Gathering, Sparrowpaw!"

Sparrowpaw waved her tail as her sister departed over to Heartpelt. Sparrowpaw looked at Rainpaw, who for some reason, was staring after Foxpaw with anger. Sparrowpaw turned to Dragonpaw, Lakepaw, Rainpaw, and Dogpaw. "Well, I think it's best I get to my Clan now!" Sparrowpaw meowed her farewell before scurrying away to her own Clan.

Sparrowpaw sat down next to Heatmuzzle and Dreampaw and looked up as the leaders began their announcements atop Highrock.

"Welcome to the Gathering!" Robinstar yowled. "It is my pleasure to allow Swiftstar of FireClan begin."

Robinstar stepped back so a ginger tabby tom could step forward. Swiftstar announced, "We have two new queens, Brightfrost and Hollytail. Brightfrost is going to have kits with Jaymist, our deputy, and Hollytail is going to have kits with Thistletail. Waterwish has passed due to a wound caused by rogues. Therefore, I have put Jaymist, her brother, in her place. Other than that, I have no other announcements, the prey is running well, and that is it."

Robinstar smiled and Swiftstar dipped his head to Robinstar. Just then Sparrowpaw noticed not only that the dark gray she-cat, apparently Raggedstar, leader of ShadeClan, was glaring at Swiftstar, but that Swiftstar was elderly. Swiftstar's muzzle was graying with age and his pelt was thinner than most of the other cats. Swiftstar was ready to become an elder.

Sparrowpaw bristled and before she knew it, she was running at Highrock. The leaders looked up, at least, Swiftstar and Robinstar did. Just as Sparrowpaw had predicted, Raggedstar lunged for Swiftstar's throat. Sparrowpaw screeched and hit the ShadeClan leader from where she stood. What Sparrowpaw didn't expect, was that the other side of the Gathering hill, was much steeper than the side they normally climbed, and it was much farther to the ground. As Sparrowpaw hit Raggedstar, the two plummeted off Highrock and fell down what was basically a cliff. Sparrowpaw struggled against Raggedstar in the air, just barely managing to get a slight grip on the ShadeClan leader before both she-cats hit the ground.

Sparrowpaw lay there, glaring at Raggedstar. Raggedstar didn't move for a moment, before getting to her paws. Raggedstar smiled and stood up, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Raggedstar limped towards Sparrowpaw and Sparrowpaw struggled to get to her paws, but her bad hind leg that Brackenstar had wounded was blazing with pain. Then Sparrowpaw remembered. Brackenstar! Sparrowpaw didn't need to move to fight. At least not in the running sense. She knew what she had to do.

When Raggedstar jumped on top of her, Sparrowpaw twisted and her claws raked up Raggedstar's belly. Sparrowpaw used her good hind leg and her forepaws to continuously rake her claws down Raggedstar's belly. Raggedstar snarled and lunged for Sparrowpaw's throat. However, Sparrowpaw acted fast and her claws forced Raggedstar to stumble forward and bite Sparrowpaw's ear instead. Raggedstar ripped away from Sparrowpaw's ear, leaving Sparrowpaw with a large tear in her right ear.

Raggedstar hissed and lunged for Sparrowpaw's throat again. Sparrowpaw this time unbalanced Raggedstar, forcing Raggedstar to abort her attempt to bite Sparrowpaw's neck, and Sparrowpaw threw Raggedstar off completely using her hind legs. Sparrowpaw staggered to her paws. She knew she couldn't hold out against Raggedstar for much longer. Raggedstar was too strong, had much more experience, and had killed cats before. Sparrowpaw limped backward slowly, trying not to introduce new threat. Sparrowpaw bumped into a cat behind her and she turned to see a large rogue towering above her. Sparrowpaw looked back at Raggedstar to find that the ShadeClan leader was smiling with a wild look upon her face.

Sparrowpaw hissed as the rogue tackled her to the ground. The rogue knocked Sparrowpaw unconscious and everything went black.

**(Foxpaw's POV)**

Foxpaw screeched as she saw her sister plummet with Raggedstar off the rock. She couldn't tell what had happened, but Raggedstar had tried to do something to Swiftstar that caused Sparrowpaw to react like that. Foxpaw jumped onto the rock, ignoring the other medicine cats' hisses for her to return. Foxpaw darted towards the edge of the rock when suddenly, a black she-cat jumped in her way. It was Featherlight, the deputy of ShadeClan.

Foxpaw bristled and hissed, "Get out of the way! That was my sister!"

Featherlight pushed her back. Foxpaw snarled, "Did you not hear me? That's my sister! Now get out of the way!"

Featherlight hissed, "Stay back, kit! It's best you and your Clan leave now!"

Just then, Foxpaw noticed ShadeClan cats and rogues had surrounded the other Clans. Robinstar yowled to MistClan far below, and the other MistClan cats followed him. Foxpaw turned to Featherlight.

"You're joined with the rogues?!" Foxpaw snarled.

Featherlight answered, "Your Clan will join us, too, one day. Now goodbye! Your sisters will be safe, trust me."

"Traitor to StarClan! Foul ShadeClan! Your Clan should be destroyed just as your Clan destroyed HeartClan!" Foxpaw spat before Heartpelt pushed her away. Heartpelt forced Foxpaw away, back to MistClan, and it wasn't long before they were back in camp. Foxpaw headed immediately for her nest. She didn't even explain to Pouncepaw what had happened as promised. No. All Foxpaw did was flatten her ears, lower her head and tail, and curl up in her nest, almost immediately falling asleep.

**Me: Isn't that so wonderful? I'm sad now. But I'm going to keep updating. Chapter 7's so soon it's not even funny.**

**Sparrowpaw: I almost died! :)  
**

**Splashpaw: And that's a good thing? T_T  
**

**Foxpaw: I'm lonesome... :(  
**

**Sparrowpaw: I'm unconscious, so goodbye! *poofs away*  
**

**Splashpaw: I'm asleep, so bye Foxpaw! *poofs away*  
**

**Foxpaw: *curls up in nest and falls asleep, groaning*  
**

**Me: And I have a feeling there's going to be way more chapters in Danger Lurking than One Splash! :)  
**

**Splash: Indeed.  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Splashpaw awoke to the nest being cold. She looked up to find Sylvia wasn't lying next to her. Splashpaw raised her head and looked out of her nest. She saw Bird and Shift standing watch. Bird was a golden tabby she-cat while Shift was a white and golden tabby tom. They were brother and sister, Bird and Shift. Suddenly, Bird's ears pricked and she nudged Shift. Shift looked up and Splashpaw followed his gaze to see Tiger appear, his large, scarred, muscular body was easily spotted from a distance.

Splashpaw narrowed her eyes as Sylvia appeared. "What is she doing?" Splashpaw whispered.

Sylvia was holding something. Splashpaw studied Sylvia and realized it was a cat. Her ears pricked, alarmed. Splashpaw barely managed to hear Sylvia whisper to Tiger, "I'll take her."

Splashpaw watched as Sylvia took the cat away, deeper into the camp, the maze of nests. Tiger glanced around at the nests, causing Splashpaw to duck for a brief moment, before turning to Shift and Bird. The large tom whispered something to the brother and sister before turning to the cats slinking out of the shadows behind him. "Back to your nests! We have proven our point. And now, ShadeClan will reside with us," Tiger meowed. Splashpaw barely caught the last part, and immediately she felt her heart begin to race. Splashpaw looked down and saw the ShadeClan leader, Raggedstar, moving throughout the cats to stand beside Tiger.

Splashpaw felt a sense of betrayal. The Clans never teamed up with rogues! And by the look on Raggedstar's face when she noticed Splashpaw, she knew that ShadeClan was wishing to destroy the other Clans.

At the sight of Sylvia turning to jump into Splashpaw's nest, Splashpaw immediately curled up, pretending to be asleep. Sylvia jumped into the nest and anger boiled up inside of Splashpaw, but she held it back. She had to act as though nothing happened.

**(Sparrowpaw POV)**

Sparrowpaw awoke to find herself in a nest in a tree. Like a bird's nest. Sparrowpaw turned her head to see a gray tabby tom, a silver tabby she-cat, a white tom, and a pale tabby she-cat. Sparrowpaw narrowed her eyes. Obviously these cats were guards, guarding her nest, to prevent her from leaving. For the white tom was watching her while the other three were turned away.

Sparrowpaw studied each cat carefully. The white tom showed no expression at all, while the gray tabby looked, with his impatiently flicking tail, as though he was going to attack her at any moment, the silver tabby she-cat appeared focused upon something, and the pale tabby she-cat, Sparrowpaw couldn't quite tell.

Sparrowpaw stood up slowly. The white tom stood, staring at her. The gray tabby turned to look at Sparrowpaw, challenging her to try to jump out or run away. Just then, a large and scarred rogue appeared. The rogue grinned when he saw her. "Hello, Sparrowpaw," he meowed.

Sparrowpaw bristled. "How do you know my name?" she hissed.

The fox-colored tabby with white paws, that large, scarred rogue, glanced at his cats before answering, "I have my ways."

Sparrowpaw narrowed her eyes. "What do you want with me?" Sparrowpaw growled.

"I am Tiger, leader of this pack. Our pack is in dire need of something you have," Tiger mewed.

"What?" Sparrowpaw snarled. "What is it you would possibly want from me? I have nothing you would want."

"Oh, but you do," Tiger meowed.

"Yeah, right," Sparrowpaw hissed.

Tiger turned to the pale tabby she-cat. "Pale! What are you doing!?" he snarled at the poor she-cat.

Pale immediately turned, fear practically etched across her face. She stuttered, "I-I-"

"Down! Now!" Tiger snarled.

Pale sunk down to the ground, crouching low and pushing her head into the ground, her tail drooping on the ground. "I'm sorry, my leader. It will not happen again. I am most humble before you," Pale whispered.

Tiger growled, "The one chance I give you to prove yourself worthy of high rank in this pack and you screw it up! Go back to sorting the fresh-kill pile for crow-food!"

Sparrowpaw's ears pricked. _A Clan cat term, I wonder where he picked that up. _Sparrowpaw looked at Pale once more to find that the she-cat was slinking away before jumping down from the nest and disappearing from sight. Sparrowpaw looked at Tiger, who was chuckling to himself.

"Original submission posture. You'll learn it from the one and only Pale. She has earned the spot at the bottom of the pack. She's a half-breed, I guess you could say. She was once from the Clans as Palebranch. But then she joined us and was renamed Pale, since she was once from the Clans, she is despised by the other cats, so she has been dominated and sent to the bottom of the pack. Pale is disrespectful, but she is learning her place. You will learn from her about the submission posture and what the cats like her do," Tiger explained with a calm that made Sparrowpaw want to claw his ears off.

Sparrowpaw narrowed her eyes and mewed, "Why do you treat her this way? She's a good cat, I can tell, and she submits when you tell her. What did she do wrong? What did she do wrong just now?"

"Questions! Questions!" Tiger hissed. "You will learn to stop asking these questions! Why, what, who! You may use those words only if you prove yourself worthy! Now, I will answer you only one question! Your last! Pale was trying to defy me by trying to get you out! That is something you must never do! If you want to live, never try to defy my orders!"

Sparrowpaw twitched her tail-tip angrily, but she knew she couldn't do anything. "Very good," Tiger praised. "Your training will begin tomorrow."

The only thing Sparrowpaw could do was nod, and that's what she did. Sparrowpaw curled up in her nest and tried to sleep. She heard Tiger leave and the three cats circle around her. Sparrowpaw could sense their prying eyes, and she curled up tighter into a small ball, and after what seemed like hours, sleep finally arrived.

**(Foxpaw's POV)**

Foxpaw awoke to see Heartpelt rush out of the den. Foxpaw leapt to her paws, ears pricking. "What is it, Heartpelt?" she called.

Heartpelt poked her head inside the den just long enough to meow, "Flowermist!" Foxpaw jumped to her paws. Flowermist was having kits! A while back, Flowermist had been revealed to be expecting kits. The father, Berryclaw was the father.

Foxpaw raced after Heartpelt. _Cousins! I'm going to have cousins! _Foxpaw thought excitedly as she flew into the nursery. Flowermist was lying on her side, groaning, with Mintsplash, Smokesplash, Fallowclaw, and Poppyheart standing off to the side. _Where's Berryclaw?_

Heartpelt, who was standing over Flowermist, hissed urgently to Foxpaw, "Strawberry leaves! Now!"

Foxpaw nodded and sprang out of the nursery. Foxpaw hurried into the medicine cats' den and started searching for strawberry leaves in the herb stock. Foxpaw smiled as she brought out the strawberry leaves from their hiding place. Foxpaw darted into the nursery and began feeding her aunt the leaves. Flowermist ate the strawberry leaves quickly and relaxed slightly.

Foxpaw sat down and watched Heartpelt impatiently. As Heartpelt explained to Foxpaw what was happening, Foxpaw noticed something weird. Something fuzzily glowed beside Flowermist's head. Foxpaw narrowed her eyes, trying to make it out, but it was too hard. Foxpaw also noticed Mintsplash appeared unfocused, like she was no longer there. Foxpaw studied her mother and the glowing thing. She couldn't make out exactly what was happening. Suddenly, Foxpaw was blown by a strong wind. She was blown backward like a leaf in the wind. Foxpaw struggled to her paws in the middle of the clearing. She noticed a small puddle before her.

Foxpaw took a step towards the puddle and something made the puddle's water splash all over Foxpaw. _A splash! Splash... Splashpaw's in trouble! _Foxpaw realized this as a sparrow flew straight past her. Foxpaw turned to find the bird captured by an invisible force and struggling to escape. Foxpaw bristled as she realized that the bird was being hurt, blood spurting out of it's neck. Foxpaw darted towards the sparrow, trying to save it, knowing that this was her sister captured and being tortured, tortured by something. Foxpaw leapt at the bird but something slammed into her. Foxpaw turned to find a tiger standing over her, it's body scarred and it was larger than anything Foxpaw had ever seen that was alive.

Foxpaw struggled to escape from the tiger, but one of its giant paws was holding her down. The sparrow was lying on the ground beneath the tiger, barely alive. A branch seemed to lower from a tree nearby and picked the sparrow up, releasing it from the tiger's wrath. The tiger grew angry, and it raised its paw, prepared to kill Foxpaw. Foxpaw cowered, but something tackled the tiger. An eagle! The eagle picked up Foxpaw and placed her on her paws.

Suddenly, Foxpaw was snapped back to reality to find herself scream, "Eagle!"

The other cats looked up, and Foxpaw realized that Flowermist had given birth to all of her kits. Foxpaw shook her head, "I mean-I mean, Eaglekit. You should name him Eaglekit."

_How did I know it was a tom? _Foxpaw looked down at the kit to realize the first-born was indeed a tom. Flowermist had an extraordinary amount of eight kits. More than most of the cats had ever seen. The first-born was a brown tabby tom with white eye dots, rather handsome, the second was a dark brown, almost black, she-kit with reddish-brown flecks, the third was a tortoiseshell she-kit, the colors being dark brown, black, and white, the fourth was reddish-brown, a tom, with black paws, a huge kit, really, the fifth was a light brown tabby she-kit, the sixth was a light brown tom with a white stripe down his back, extremely handsome, the seventh was a black she-kit with light brown paws, a really pretty she-kit, and the eighth was a reddish-brown she-kit with white ear-tips, she was also rather pretty.

Flowermist nodded and mewed, "Yes, the first-born will be Eaglekit."

Mintsplash finally seemed to focus and looked down at her sister. "What do you think about the second-born should be named... Pebblekit," Mintsplash suggested.

Flowermist nodded, looking down at her kits and meowed as though she was running the name through her mind, "Pebblekit."

"How about... Tawnykit for the third-born," Fallowclaw suggested.

Flowermist nodded, "Yes, Tawnykit."

"Scarkit for the fourth," Smokesplash meowed.

Flowermist murmured her agreement before meowing, "The fifth shall be named Longkit."

"The sixth shall be named, Fallingkit," meowed Poppyheart, who happened to also be expecting kits, the father being Robinstar.

"How about Echokit for the seventh," Mintsplash meowed.

Flowermist nodded, "Both of those names are perfect. And I shall name the eighth, Fawnkit."

Foxpaw smiled and whispered excitedly, "I have cousins!"

_Eaglekit, Pebblekit, Tawnykit, Scarkit, Longkit, Fallingkit, Echokit, and Fawnkit. They're perfect! _Foxpaw thought to herself.

"Alright, our work here is done, Foxpaw. Now, off to bed. You were awakened in the middle of the night, you must be tired," Heartpelt meowed. "Let's give Flowermist some space."

Foxpaw nodded and trotted away, just then noticing how exhausted she really was, and the time of day. It was nighttime, at moonhigh too. Foxpaw curled up in her nest in the medicine cats' den. Over the past two weeks, she had never been happier. The blanket of sleep quickly covered Foxpaw, and Foxpaw did not sleep with any dreams that night, just quiet, happy, contented sleep.

**Me: Eaglekit, Pebblekit, Tawnykit, Scarkit, Longkit, Fallingkit, Echokit, and Fawnkit. Awwww... They're so cute! **

**Mintsplash: And the contests are still rolling, so PLEASE review and guess! We would be delighted!  
**

**Flowermist: Yay! I have kits!  
**

**Foxpaw: But Berryclaw wasn't there. I wonder what he was doing...  
**

**Splashpaw: Well, you're going to find out! NEXT CHAPTER SHALL SHOW YA!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Thank you for deafening us.  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Berryclaw padded through the forest in silence. The moon's blazing light shone upon his pelt, staining it with a pale reddish-brown color. Berryclaw lifted his nose to the air. He sniffed, checking for any unusual scents. Something caught his nose. A sweet, slightly familiar scent. Berryclaw padded after the scent trail. It twisted through MistClan territory, and before Berryclaw knew it, he was at the pond in the center of MistClan territory. Berryclaw looked from side to side, the water washing up on his paws. Rustling made Berryclaw turn to look at a thorn bush.

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow! OW!" a voice reached Berryclaw from the thorn bush. Berryclaw crept towards the thorn bush, and poked his head carefully around it. _A kittypet! _Berryclaw thought.

It was indeed a kittypet. A tortoiseshell kittypet with a pink collar was caught in a thorn bush. Berryclaw narrowed his eyes and hissed, "What are you doing in MistClan territory?!"

The kittypet looked up, her icy blue eyes stretched wide with fear. The kittypet struggled harder against the thorn bush, trying to free herself from its spiky tendrils. Berryclaw growled, "Stop struggling!"

The kittypet immediately stopped, and Berryclaw eased her out, then pulled some of the prickly thorns from her pelt. "Th-thank you," the kittypet stuttered.

"Yeah, yeah. I helped you. Now get lost!" Berryclaw snarled.

The kittypet jumped at his voice and crouched low, grinding her muzzle into the ground and drooping her tail, flattening her ears. "I'm so sorry!" she hissed.

Berryclaw cocked his head. He hadn't seen this kind of respect before. "What... what are you doing?" he asked, confusion lining his voice.

"I," the kittypet seemed confused when she spoke, and she sat up, staring at him for a moment before continuing, "was doing a traditional submission posture. Aren't I supposed to do that?"

Berryclaw stared at her. This kittypet seemed out of her mind! _Who was she? What exactly is going through her head? _Berryclaw shook his head, trying to shake away his confusion. "I suppose so," he answered uncertainly.

The kittypet smiled, dropping her guard. "Who are you, exactly?" she almost giggled.

Berryclaw was offended by her almost-giggle. He bristled and growled, "I could ask you the same thing!"

The kittypet flattened her ears and mewed, "I'm sorry."

Berryclaw couldn't help being angry. He laid his fur flat and sat down. The kittypet laughed this time. "What's wrong with you!?" Berryclaw hissed angrily, once again bristling.

"You're so funny! You overreact at everything I say, and then you get all formal and don't act so harsh, and then you get angry again, and then when I'm sad you seem happy again! The littlest things set you off! And then you make random drastic changes back to happy!" the kittypet laughed.

Berryclaw growled, "Stop laughing!"

The kittypet ignored him.

"Stop laughing now!"

Still the kittypet ignored him.

Berryclaw growled and leapt at that kittypet. He hit her to the ground and clawed her shoulders a bit. Just to show her who's boss.

That's when the kittypet did something he didn't expect. The kittypet unsheathed her own claws, revealing that they were even sharper than his, and kicked him in the stomach, throwing Berryclaw away and causing him to slam onto the ground.

Berryclaw's eyes widened in surprise as he lay upon the ground. Berryclaw slowly stood up and turned to the kittypet, who was standing now, her claws still unsheathed.

"NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO STOP!" she hissed angrily.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Berryclaw meowed urgently. He did his best imitation of the kittypet's submission posture. The kittypet stopped, having just crouched for a pounce, and slowly stood.

She dipped her head. "I am sorry. For a long time I have forgotten who I am but now... I remember. Thank you. You have reminded me what it's like to be a Clan cat again," the kittypet meowed to Berryclaw quietly.

Berryclaw's eyes widened. "Who are you?"

The tortoiseshell sat down, pulling at her collar with her claws in the best ways she could. "First, could you help me with this?" she asked him.

"Sure," Berryclaw responded, and padded up to her. He placed his teeth on her collar and through the tough texture meowed, "Better brace yourself."

The she-cat nodded and anchored herself to the ground with her claws. Berryclaw pulled at her collar, and the she-cat pulled back away from him. After a moment, the collar snapped and the she-cat coughed, gasping for air.

When she was ready, the she-cat introduced herself, "My kittypet name was Sally, but my real name from my Clan is Flickerkit. I was a kit at the time I was separated from my Clan."

"How?" Berryclaw asked, whispering.

"My Clan... I cannot risk in telling you. I would but... there's something I need to do first. And I need to get to know you. What is your name?" the tortoiseshell asked.

"Well first, I think we should give you your warrior name. Flickerkit, you are now Flickerpaw, your mentor being yourself," Berryclaw smiled, playing the role of leader in a very dramatic fashion.

Flickerpaw smiled.

"Flickerpaw, after no time of training, you will know be known as Flickerwish," Berryclaw meowed. "And I am Berryclaw, now becoming Berrystar!"

Flickerwish chuckled at his dramatic tone. "So... Can I meet you again? Tomorrow night perhaps?" Flickerwish asked.

Berryclaw nodded. "Sure!"

"Oh, and Berryclaw," Flickerwish meowed cautiously, "please don't tell anyone I'm here. At this point in time there's no where else for me to live."

"I'll try to keep you a secret, Flickerwish," Berryclaw reassured her.

Flickerwish relaxed. "Good. Because FireClan already tried to kill me," she mewed.

Berryclaw chuckled, "Goodbye, Flickerwish!" and ran off, back towards camp.

**Me: Can you guess what's going on here? 'Cause it's not completely obvious, but it makes sense and it's going to make you cry, hopefully, later. Please review and try to guess. T_T What is it Sparrowpaw?**

**Sparrowpaw: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, OH!  
**

**Me: WHAT?!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Okay, we just want to clarify that-  
**

**Me: I didn't tell you you could say that.  
**

**Sparrowpaw: I don't care. The contests are over, but whoever tries to guess them, even if they are already over, we will try to use your kits, or whatever the contest is about. Special thanks to Moonlight for being the first person.  
**

**Me: Well, we can't be too sad. I mean, we're directly telling people to read One Splash before this, so... you know... it's not like very many people had much of a choice.  
**

**Mintsplash: WHAT!? ARE YOU SAYING PEOPLE WEREN'T INTERESTED ENOUGH IN _MY _STORY TO HAVE COMPLETELY FINISHED READING IT? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?  
**

**Me: Well... we only have 168 views Traffic Graph so far... so... for this story anyway... today...  
**

**Mintsplash: Oh, whatever! I'm gone!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: MOM! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO EMBARRASS ME?  
**

**Mintsplash: I didn't even say anything!  
**

**Me: This is going to be a _long _night...  
**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Eclipsepaw awoke one beautiful morning in the FireClan apprentices' den. She had become an apprentice a week ago, and her littermates Quickpaw and Kestrelpaw were sleeping next to her. Everything was normal. Eclipsepaw once again wondered how she had gotten her beautiful, sleek black pelt. Her mother was Brightfrost, her father Jaymist. Eclipsepaw did not understand why she was in such contrast to the other FireClan cats' bright pelts.

"Good morning, Eclipsepaw," a mew sounded behind Eclipsepaw, and she turned to find the older, eight moon old apprentice Badgerpaw.

"Oh, hey, Badgerpaw," Eclipsepaw responded.

Badgerpaw was well known with his name. He was broad shouldered, a scar lay across his forehead from a battle with rogues not too long ago. Eclipsepaw stood up, leaving her brothers sleeping next to one another. She padded up to Badgerpaw.

"So, have Dragonpelt, Rainfire, Lakefrost, and Dogfur finished their vigil?" Eclipsepaw asked about the new warriors. Last night, Lakepaw, Dragonpaw, Rainpaw, and Dogpaw had all gained the warrior names from Swiftstar.

Badgerpaw nodded. "Yeah, they've finished their vigil. I'm not thinking about them, though. I'm thinking about Raggedstar."

"Why?"

Badgerpaw's eyes grew distant and he acknowledged softly, "Oh, right. You weren't at the last Gathering."

Eclipsepaw's ears pricked. _Finally! Somebody might tell me what happened last Gathering! They all seemed so upset. _"What happened?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't know if I should tell you," Badgerpaw replied.

"You can tell me! I'm not that young!" Eclipsepaw didn't want to let go of what could be her last chance to learn about what had happened.

Badgerpaw shook his head and responded, "No, it's not that. I just don't want to scare you."

"Scare me!" Eclipsepaw shook her head in disbelief and continued, "Of course it won't scare me! Ha! Scare me."

Badgerpaw shook his head once more before meowing, "No. You don't get it. It scared me half to death. I thought that MistClan apprentice was going to die. She might have died, she didn't come back."

Eclipsepaw jumped up and down as though that would help her get him to listen. "Please! Please tell me!"

"I-" Badgerpaw was cut off by a deep rumbling noise. "What is that?"

Eclipsepaw grew very still, fear driving into her. Something was terribly wrong. Suddenly, it seemed as the earth had exploded. The rumbling exploded into a roar, and the ground shook. Eclipsepaw dug her claws into the ground when she noticed it was cracking.

"The ground is breaking!" she screeched in fear. Quickpaw and Kestrelpaw were on their paws, scrambling away from the cracks. The whole Earth shook, and Eclipsepaw could hardly focus on one thing, for it seemed that her vision was doubled, everything was shaking so hard. Eclipsepaw dragged herself out from the apprentices' den. She turned her head to look at Badgerpaw, his sister Leopardpaw, and his brother Rabbitpaw. The three littermates were racing for the exit that was crumbling.

"StarClan help them!" Eclipsepaw screamed. Badgerpaw grabbed his brother and sister's scruffs and threw them outside, but the den crumbled before Badgerpaw could get out.

"Badgerpaw!" Leopardpaw and Rabbitpaw yowled in shock.

Eclipsepaw sprang over to them. "Let's not let him die in vain. If... he did die. Let's go!" Eclipsepaw stuttered a bit, but other than that, her voice was strong. Leopardpaw and Rabbitpaw nodded and followed Eclipsepaw out to the center of camp. That's when they were split up.

Eclipsepaw twisted around and saw that Leopardpaw and Rabbitpaw were standing on the opposite side of a massive crack in the earth that had formed right after Eclipsepaw ran over it. Eclipsepaw stared at them for a moment before yowling, "Run the other way! Try to see if you can get out!"

The other two apprentices ran off in the opposite direction as Eclipsepaw wheeled around to see something horrific. Swiftstar was running towards the exit of camp, yowling to the other cats, directing them, when suddenly, the ground collapsed from beneath him. Eclipsepaw darted over to the hole and saw Swiftstar screeching as he fell far below, falling farther than Eclipsepaw could see, but a sickening feeling came to her stomach when she thought of hitting the ground all the way down there.

Every cat's eyes turned to Jaymist, for he was to be the next leader. "Let's go! Feel with your paws before you step, make sure you stick together. stay within a tail-length from one another!" Jaymist ordered.

Eclipsepaw hurried over to her mother, Brightfrost, and pressed against her. But then the earth really fell apart. The earth crumbled underneath cats and cats were running in different directions, scrambling to get away from the crumbling earth. Eclipsepaw watched as her father struggled to take charge of the cats. But it wasn't working. Eclipsepaw darted forward. She darted towards where Swiftstar had fallen and leapt over the hole. She sprang over it and landed on the other side. She raced out of camp, fear driving her onward.

Eclipsepaw just kept running. She ran through the moor of FireClan territory, she ran farther and farther. Before she knew it, her paws brought her before the Moontrees. Eclipsepaw curled up, panting, exhausted. Eclipsepaw shut her eyes tight, trying to push away the memories of the terror of her Clanmates as they tried to escape, but were swallowed by the earth.

"Why, FireClan?" she whispered.

"Because they deserved it. They have been destroyed as destiny," a voice surprised Eclipsepaw, and she leapt to her paws, unsheathing her claws, bristling.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"Me," the voice responded. A figure took a step toward Eclipsepaw.

"Who's me?" Eclipsepaw forced herself to growl, but she had an edge of fear to her voice.

The figure padded out into the light, and Eclipsepaw recognized one of the rogues that had attacked Badgerpaw. "I am Tiger. I lead my pack. But something happened long before to me to. Much like this."

Eclipsepaw hissed, "You're one of the rogues who attacked Badgerpaw!"

Tiger sat before her, wrapping his tail around his paws. "FireClan had to be destroyed. Now MistClan is the only Clan that exists," Tiger meowed triumphantly.'

Eclipsepaw snarled, "You destroyed ShadeClan too?"

"No. They gave themselves to us," Tiger answered.

Eclipsepaw hissed with anger now, no more fear, "Those mangy, flea-bitten traitors! No, they're worse than that, they're lower than dirt!"

"As they should be. They are guilty, full of treason. And we are punishing them for it," Tiger meowed.

"Why have you come to me?" Eclipsepaw asked.

"You know why," Tiger replied plainly.

Eclipsepaw stared at him, confused. "And... how did you know they were destroyed?" Eclipsepaw asked quietly.

"Because I destroyed them," Tiger meowed.

Eclipsepaw's eyes widened. "Wh-wh-wh-"

"What am I?" Tiger cut her off.

Eclipsepaw backed away from him. Fear now took over her anger; extinguished it. Eclipsepaw did not quite understand. This cat somehow had the powers of StarClan, but was he connected to the Clans at all? Eclipsepaw glanced at the sky. _Why, Mumbletail?! Why have you let this despicable cat use your powers?!_

Eclipsepaw shook her head and meowed, "You're-you're nothing but a c-cat! Just l-like m-me."

"Yes. Just like you," Tiger replied coolly. "You see, Eclipsepaw, there's a reason your pelt is in such contrast from the other FireClan cats. It's due to your ancestors. You have cats that once stood and fought with the cats of my pack in your ancestry. Therefore, you have my pack's blood. We need new blood in our pack, someone fresh. You are perfect for the job. This one fateful day will lead you to your destiny; and you will love it."

Eclipsepaw shook her head. "No," she whispered.

Tiger came closer to her. "You are one of us."

Eclipsepaw screamed, "It's not true! You're lying!"

"Like I would lie to you. You have our blood. Join us, or we'll make you," Tiger growled. The last sentence was barely audible, but it struck fear into Eclipsepaw's heart.

She closed her eyes. If FireClan was going to live on, she would have to survive. "I... I will come with you," Eclipsepaw whispered so quietly, she could tell Tiger had to strain his ears to hear her.

Tiger smiled. "Good. I was afraid I would have to kill you," he seemed very pleased as he spoke. Very arrogant he was.

Tiger turned around and added, "Come. We must hurry back. The pack is hungry and wishes to feast."

Eclipsepaw ran after Tiger into what seemed to be the howling dark, even though it was daytime. Eclipsepaw knew that something would happen, and she would be killed, but all she could do was run. She slowed for one moment, throwing one last glance at FireClan territory before racing after Tiger onward to wherever he was taking her.

**Me: ... Eclipsepaw. Poor Eclipsepaw.**

**Tiger: Shut up! I'm certain she'll perfectly happy in the pack!  
**

**Me: But you-  
**

**Tiger: Shut up and go away!  
**

**Me: No!  
**

**Tiger: *faces me and growls, unsheathing claws* Don't you dare go there!  
**

**Me: Well... I already did, so... ha!  
**

**Eclipsepaw: Please don't fight...  
**

**Me: Oh. Sorry, Eclipsepaw! I really don't want to upset you!  
**

**Eclipsepaw: It's alright...  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Now, time to do some time traveling!  
**

**Me: Indeed. You know, I say indeed a lot. Why is that?  
**

**Sparrowpaw: *shrugs* I don't know. Don't ask me.  
**

**Me: Okay! Foxpaw! You get to put up the disclaimer!  
**

**Foxpaw: Okay!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Why don't I get to-  
**

**I don't own, or claim to own, freaky creepy people who like my cheese, my sister does.  
**

**Me: You're so mean!  
**

**Foxpaw: But it's awesome!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: YOU CUT ME OFF!  
**

**Me: Don't go crazy, Sparrowpaw! Foxpaw, you definitely make better jokes than Sparrowpaw, so you get to put up the disclaimer from now on!  
**

**Foxpaw: Yay!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: WHAT!?  
**

**I don't own, or claim to own, Sparrowpaw who likes to take every single piece of meat on my fresh-kill, Splashpaw does.  
**

**Me: You like to be mean to your sisters, don't you Foxpaw?  
**

**Foxpaw: YAY!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I WILL KILL YOU, FOXPAW!  
**

**Foxpaw: Okay, FINE! I'LL PUT UP THE CORRECT DISCLAIMER!  
**

**Sparrowpaw: Yay!  
**

**I don't own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Foxpaw awoke to another bustling MistClan morning. Robinstar was even in the bunch. Every cat was trying to figure out what to do. About this new group of rogues, that is. Whitestalker stood tall, trying to sort it all out. Three moons had passed, and Foxpaw was now nine moons old. Foxpaw was so anxious for her sisters to come back, she felt as though she could almost join the cats pacing in the center of the clearing.

Foxpaw looked at her father, entering camp with more fresh-kill. Bramblewish glanced at Mintsplash, who had been laying on the basking rocks, staring off into the distance for a long time now. Foxpaw shut her eyes for a moment, and opened them again. But nothing had changed as she had hoped.

MistClan was so fired up. Every cat was way too busy with the amount of patrols going out. Aggression levels from the rogues had risen high enough for cats to nearly be killed in border skirmishes. In all of this, Berryclaw had been disappearing, just when Flowermist needed him most. Foxpaw personally didn't believe Berryclaw truly loved her, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want Flowermist to be depressed. Foxpaw watched as Flowermist told one of the guards, Snowsong, that she was leaving camp for a little walk. _What is she doing?_

**(Flowermist's POV)**

Flowermist padded through the territory. She enjoyed the sweet smell of the grass and flowers. "Oh, I missed being outside the territory," Flowermist sighed to herself.

Flowermist heard voices through the next bush. _Who could that be? _Flowermist wondered. She recognized one of the voices as Berryclaw's.

"What could Berryclaw be doing out here when he's needed in camp?" she whispered, making sure she wasn't heard.

Flowermist then decided that it would be best to see. She didn't want to spy on her mate, so she stepped out into the clearing.

**(Berryclaw's POV)**

Berryclaw sensed movement. He turned from where he was wrapped around Flickerwish to find Flowermist staring at him. Flowermist's jaw dropped, and she just stared. Berryclaw could see her trying to grasp what was going on. Her eyes were filled with shock, her happiness obviously stung. Flickerwish raised her head, staring at Flowermist.

"B-B-Berryclaw? Wh-wh-what are you d-doing?" Flowermist stuttered.

Flickerwish stood. "What are you doing here?" she snarled.

Flowermist looked at Berryclaw. "Berryclaw," she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes.

Flickerwish turned to Berryclaw. "Who is this?" she demanded, confusion in her eyes.

Tears stained Flowermist's face. "How could you, Berryclaw?" she asked.

"Who is this cat, Berryclaw?" Flickerwish growled.

"That cat," Flowermist began, "is my mate, Berryclaw."

Flickerwish's head turned to her sharply. "You're lying."

"No. I'm not," Flowermist choked. "We have eight beautiful kits. Eaglekit, Scarkit, Tawnykit, Pebblekit... Fawnkit, Fallingkit, Longkit, and... Ech-Echokit. Don't you remember, Berryclaw?"

"No."

"What?" she whispered.

"No," Berryclaw growled. "I don't remember. I don't know what you're talking about! I deny you! I deny you! I deny you!"

Flowermist stared at him for a moment before her rage grew. "Fine! Besides, it's better this way! You didn't even care when they were born!" And she sprinted off into the forest.

**(Foxpaw's POV)**

"Foxpaw!"

A yowl made Foxpaw jump from her careful work upon Snaketail's shoulder wound. She turned away from the injured warrior and his patrol and found herself face-to-face with the new warriors, Shortfall, Sandfur, Dreamlight, Pouncetail, Junipertail, Spiderfoot, Wolfpelt, Beechclaw, Tigerfur, Swiftfrost, and Firecloud. Shortfall had been the one to announce her name.

"What is it, Shortfall? And Dreamlight, aren't you and Sandfur supposed to be out with Rabbitpaw and Leopardpaw for their assessment?" Foxpaw asked.

Dreamlight's eyes grew wide with fear. "Oh, Foxpaw! Rabbitpaw and Leopardpaw were out on assessment, and, of course, I was following my apprentice Rabbitpaw while Sandfur followed Leopardpaw, when suddenly Rabbitpaw met a badger family!"

"And Leopardpaw ran into a fox family near FireClan territory!" Sandfur added.

"This is horrible!" Foxpaw exclaimed. "Where is Rabbitpaw?!"

Dreamlight meowed urgently, "By the Hollow Tree!"

"For some reason all of the animals went wild!" Shortfall told Foxpaw. "While me, Twigpaw, Wolfpelt, and Lowpaw were out on a border patrol near ShadeClan, we spread out to mark. Next thing I knew, Twigpaw and Lowpaw were gone! Me and Wolfpelt scented them running from a badger, or chasing it."

"And me and Thistlepaw were training at the Ancient Willow, when Thistlepaw was thrown away! I-I ran away from the fox family that loomed over him! Now he's trapped back there! Probably dead!" Pouncetail stuttered.

Spiderfoot, Beechclaw, Junipertail, and Firecloud bristled. "Quickpaw and Kestrelpaw were with us until we were attacked by hawks! Before we knew it, we were driven away from the two apprentices!" they meowed together.

"Let's go! We have to save them!" Foxpaw yowled. Together, the cats started to alert camp, sprinting out and soon racing in the depths of MistClan territory with other warriors leaping beside them to help.

**(Eaglekit's POV)**

Eaglekit watched his littermates play-fight, not paying much attention to the commotion outside. "What's going on out there?" asked a small dusky gray she-kit with green eyes, matching her mother's eyes.

"I don't know, Dawnkit," admitted one of Poppyheart's kits, Hawkkit, a reddish-brown tabby tom with a white muzzle and green eyes.

Flamekit, Hawkkit's brother, a reddish-ginger tom with amber eyes, snorted, "That's a first, Hawkkit."

Finally, Eaglekit's littermates started to join in to the conversation. "What _is _going on out there?" Pebblekit asked, trying to get a glimpse of the camp, but Pinefur was purposefully blocking the kits from looking.

"I don't think we should-" a dark brown tabby she-kit with green eyes was cut off.

"-escape from this place. You're right, Nettlekit!" Hawkkit meowed.

"But... how can we do that?" asked a tiny white kit with a ginger ear and blue eyes.

"It's easy!" he meowed, and began to explain the plan to the others.

**(Hawkkit's POV)**

"That was so easy!" Hawkkit exclaimed to his littermates as they sprinted away from a sleeping Pinefur.

Nettlekit nodded. "Yeah! You were right, brother! We should do it again some time!" she praised Hawkkit.

Hawkkit smiled. "Yeah, all we had to do is lure her to bed!"

Eaglekit grumbled something and Hawkkit glared at him. "What did you say?" Hawkkit snarled.

"Nothing," Eaglekit mumbled.

"That's what I thought!" Hawkkit snarled viciously at the kit who was older than him, but he didn't care.

Hawkkit led the way into the forest. "If we stay off the main paths, we can evade detection. Then, we won't get in trouble. Come on, this holly bush will direct us the right way," he plotted.

The kits hauled themselves into the holly bush. Icekit, the white she-kit with the ginger ear, mewled in complaint at the pricking the kits were recieving, soon, Dawnkit joined in. The two sisters were making so much racket, Hawkkit was certain that every cat in the forest could hear them.

"Shush!" he hissed. Icekit and Dawnkit clenched their jaws shut, trying not to say a single word.

Hawkkit hauled himself out of the holly bush and dove into some brambles. The spiky tendrils scratched at his face, but he did his best to ignore it and pushed through. He soon found the bush was large enough to hold all of the kits, and he turned around.

"Role call!" he announced.

Icekit and Dawnkit tilted their heads to one side. "What does that mean?" the two sisters asked.

"It means we check and make sure everyone is here," Eaglekit explained to them quickly.

Hawkkit narrowed his eyes, glowering at Eaglekit a moment before mewing, "Nettlekit and Flamekit! Dawnkit and Icekit! Eaglekit and Fawnkit! Scarkit and Tawnykit! Hollykit and Sedgekit! Pebblekit and Longkit! And Echokit and Fallingkit!"

Every cat answered to his role call. Hollykit, a black she-kit with a dark brown underbelly and gray eyes, and Sedgekit, a light brown tabby she-kit with white eye-dots, both Hawkkit's sisters, trotted up to him. "Where do we go now?" Hollykit asked.

Hawkkit flicked his tail. "C'mon. You'll see," he mewed reassuringly to them. He whipped around and was about to step forward when he heard something.

"Stop," Eaglekit whispered, signaling with his tail.

"What?" Longkit asked.

"Sh!" Hawkkit hissed, and the kits all crouched.

"I'm fine! We need to head back for Leopardpaw!" the kits heard Rabbitpaw hiss.

"No, you're not! That badger nearly killed you!" a worried voice came from who the kits recognized to be Smokesplash.

"But Leopardpaw! Those foxes!"

"No!" Spottedfrost's voice was so close, Icekit shivered. Hawkkit glared at her until she stopped. Spottedfrost's tail grazed the bush. "Ow!" she hissed as Hawkkit stabbed a thorn in her tail.

"Alright! Let's go. Now you're both injured!" the irritated voice of Snaketail made Dawnkit have to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Eaglekit slapped his tail over her mouth for further protection.

The sound of the warriors leaving did not make Hawkkit move. He cleverly waited until the sound of their pawsteps faded away completely and a couple minutes after, before leaving the protection of the bramble bush. Hawkkit led the kits near the path, but not in eyesight of it. Finally, he caught a scent. An unfamiliar one. It was hard to smell, and Hawkkit cursed his nose for not being entirely developed.

Hawkkit followed the fresh reek of a cat. He knew it was fresh, but it was hard to smell do to how young he was. He glanced over his shoulder at Icekit and Dawnkit when their bellies rumbled. He halted, and Nettlekit bumped into him.

"Nettlekit, take Icekit and Dawnkit back to camp," Hawkkit ordered.

Nettlekit stared up at him. "What have I done?" she complained.

"What have we done?" Dawnkit whined.

"You're still nursing on milk Dawnkit, that's what. You two are terribly hungry, I can tell. Nettlekit, we'll wait for you to return here," Hawkkit meowed.

Eaglekit grumbled something again, and Hawkkit shot him an angry look before watching Nettlekit take Dawnkit and Icekit back towards the way they had come. Hawkkit sat down, waiting patiently for his sister to return.

**(About an hour later)**

Hawkkit looked up at the sound of rustling. All of the kits had settled down in their makeshift camp, even Pebblekit had managed to start a fire. A dark shape emerged from the bushes in the fading light of the day. When Hawkkit realized it was Nettlekit, he stood, grabbed the wet moss Flamekit had brought, and tossed it on the fire, extinguishing it.

"Come on. All of you," Hawkkit announced.

So, the kits began their trek, once more.

**Me: Ah, kits. Never know what they're sticking their noses in. Anything could happen right now, you realize. By the way, anybody who's reading, I can't update next week. Going to Florida! Well right now. On November 12, 2012...**

**Sparrowpaw: Stop ruining the moment! Let's just get to the next chapter!  
**

**I'm wide awake, and I don't claim this song, oh my gosh, Sparrowpaw's gonna bash my head in, I'm wide awake, Katy Perry has, made, a movie about herself, who does that? Justin Bieber stinks!  
**

**Me: Nice, Foxpaw.  
**

**Foxpaw: :D  
**

**Sparrowpaw: T_T Why do you embarrass me every chapter, Foxpaw? Sparrowflight7?  
**

**Me: Because we can.  
**

**Moonlight, I am very sorry that you saw that. You happened to review after I'd completed the story, so I'd had no idea that you were trying out. When you reviewed, I was busy in Florida. So, if you ever see this, (which I hope you forgive me), please don't take offense. I've already completed this story and didn't notice. :( Please come back! I don't want to feel horrible about it forever! And by the way, I would love to help you with your fanfic, please no hard feelings! I didn't get any note, either, so please tell me what it is if you ever come back. Please forgive me. :( Please let me help you, it's the least I can do. Oh, and I will most definitely find a place for your kits in my next book As the Star Blazes. They are perfect, thank you.  
**

**I don't own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.  
**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Sparrowpaw awoke to see Pale standing before her. The pale tabby's gray eyes were filled with determination.

"What is it?" Sparrowpaw asked.

"It's time. We have to leave now," Pale replied.

Sparrowpaw's ears pricked. Leave? Sparrowpaw hadn't thought about an escape plan. "Leave? How?" she asked vaguely.

Pale smiled with the mischievious smile that Sparrowpaw might have seen her sister, Foxpaw, give her when they were about to play a game. Sparrowpaw's eyes welled with tears and she shook her head almost violently to rid of them.

"Look, we'll pretend to play dead. I've seen these cats. They take away those who are dead; then we won't have to search for crow-food anymore!" Pale exclaimed. It was true, sifting through the fresh-kill pile for crow-food was only one of the dreadful tasks they had to do.

"That would be nice, but how do we tell Splashpaw?" Sparrowpaw asked.

Just then, a voice, Brackenstar's voice, broke through the mist; _Look out!_

Sparrowpaw's ears pricked and she twisted around, raising her paw in the intercepting fashion Brackenstar had showed her. Brackenstar had been appearing in her dreams a lot recently. The two had trained relentlessly, and Sparrowpaw had the scratches to prove it.

And, as Brackenstar had warned, Tiger was right in front of her. Tiger's claws glinted as Sparrowpaw just barely managed to keep herself on her feet, but she was pushed back a whole fox-length. _You're surrounded! _Brackenstar's voice hissed in Sparrowpaw's ear and she whipped her head around, snarling.

Sure enough, cats surrounded the two she-cats. Pale backed up to stand right behind Sparrowpaw, and Sparrowpaw glowered at Tiger.

"What are you doing here, Tiger?" Sparrowpaw growled.

Tiger smiled his evil, sly smile. "Just to... show you something, Sparrowpaw," he responded, the hint of a snarl in his voice.

Sparrowpaw narrowed her eyes and snarled, "Yeah, right. Like I would come with you."

"Oh, but you will. If it... I don't know... put your sister's life on the line," Tiger chuckled. The cats around Sparrowpaw and Pale laughed.

"You can't trust him," Pale whispered in Sparrowpaw's ear.

"I know," Sparrowpaw whispered. "How do I know I can trust you?" she snarled at Tiger.

Tiger turned away from her. "You know how," and he left.

Sparrowpaw stared after him for a moment. "Pale. What do I do?" she whispered. The cats around them began to disperse.

"We have to follow him. I... don't think Splashpaw is very safe," Pale replied softly.

Sparrowpaw nodded, and, with that, sprinted after Tiger and his comrades. Pale followed her.

Sparrowpaw looked at Pale. "It-it will be okay," she reassured her.

The two friends halted when they saw Tiger had stopped. The large tom was staring straight ahead. Out of the shadows, Splashpaw and Sylvia appeared. The two obviously had high tensions, for Splashpaw and Sylvia were looking different directions.

"Nice to see you two," Tiger meowed, greeting them.

Splashpaw turned to him. "What is it now, Tiger?"

Sylvia glanced at Splashpaw. "Eclipsepaw. Where is she?" she asked timidly.

"Oh, she's waiting for you, Sylvia. Just by the eastern border of MistClan territory. But first, we have something else to discuss," Tiger responded.

"What is so important that you brought me and Pale here?" Sparrowpaw growled.

Tiger smiled. He yowled to the rest of the cats and the pack all surrounded him. "We have a new era dawning upon us!" he announced. "I shall become Tigerstar, leader of HeartClan!"

Sparrowpaw's eyes widened. _What?_

Tiger nodded. "That's right. I'm heading to the Moontrees now. Splashpaw, you have proven yourself worthy and Sylvia, you as well. So now I give you both your names as my first act. Sylvia, from now on you will be known as Moonwish. Moonwish, your hard work has paid off and you are easily accepted as a full warrior of HeartClan. Splashpaw, from now on you will be known as Splashwhisker. You are a warrior of skill, determination, and born for leadership. We accept you as a full warrior of HeartClan," Tiger yowled. The other cats yowled along with him, and Splashwhisker watched the cats evenly. "Now, for my deputy. I pronounce Splashwhisker for my deputy!"

Sparrowpaw stared at Splashwhisker. "What?" she murmured to herself.

Tiger flicked his tail, sprinting off with Moonwish not far behind. Sparrowpaw caught his sneer as he passed. Splashwhisker turned to Sparrowpaw. "Happy, sister?" Splashwhisker asked.

Sparrowpaw noticed the difference in her sister as soon as she spoke. Splashwhisker's voice was so smooth, so well formed, yet so, sly. Splashwhisker's body was lean, yet her claws were long and sharp. Splashwhisker held herself in an authoritative posture.

"Something's wrong," Sparrowpaw whispered to Pale.

"I know. But Sparrowpaw, don't, just, don't worry. Everything will be fine," Pale meowed.

Sparrowpaw sighed. That's what everyone seemed to say. Even in the toughest situations, cats told her that everything would be fine, when everything was wrong!

"Help me!" a screech sounded not too far off. The cats parted to reveal a kit sprinting through the cats. His eyes were wide with fear. "Help me!" he screamed again.

Sparrowpaw darted over to the kit and picked him up, she glanced from side to side and mewed. Pale immediately took notice. Sparrowpaw started sprinting away from the kits.

_Dodge to the left, _Brackenstar whispered, and Sparrowpaw did as he said. A cat flew past her, her claws only severing some hairs. Sparrowpaw recognized Bird and kicked the she-cat as she leapt through the air. She landed upon a dark brown tabby tom with a white muzzle.

Sparrowpaw growled. This wasn't Tiger! She wanted revenge. So, so badly. She still held the kit in her mouth, but she didn't care anymore. She zoned in upon the one and only thing she hated. Tiger.

_Duck! _Brackenstar ordered. Sparrowpaw ducked and a cat flew over her. Sparrowpaw shoved the cat out of the way and continued on, faster and faster. Sparrowpaw was aware of soaring through the air for a brief moment before she found herself once more upon the ground, running ever so quickly. Sparrowpaw's legs were not capable of stopping, and she was just beginning to see the tip of Tiger's tail...

No! It wasn't Tiger! Sparrowpaw skidded to a halt and became aware of gulping in air. She was breathing so hard, she collapsed upon the ground. Sparrowpaw lay there for a moment, trying to catch her breath, before looking up. She was in the deserted ShadeClan camp. Sparrowpaw shook her head.

"Huh? How'd I get here so fast?" she struggled to mew.

She suddenly realized that the cat she had seen was Mudflight. She had mistaken the StarClan cat's pelt for Tiger's. Or was he a StarClan cat? Sparrowpaw didn't know. She never knew. StarClan misjudged cats so often, as they had with Brackenstar. He had told her about how StarClan sneered in his face. Jeered at him and how he had tried his best to maintain MistClan, but StarClan didn't care.

_Who's that? _Sparrowpaw thought as she looked up into the face of a brown tabby tom with glowing amber eyes. "Who are you?" she panted.

"I," the cat began, "am Flamingspirit."

Sparrowpaw leapt to her paws. "Mum's told me about you," she snarled. "You were a good-for-nothing piece of fox-dung who tried to turn MistClan evil!"

Flamingspirit shook his head. "No. I am humbly Brackenstar's deputy," he replied.

"What?!" Sparrowpaw hissed. "You couldn't possibly be _that _good of a cat!"

"But I am. I-" Flamingspirit began.

"No! You are nothing!" a voice screeched. Sparrowpaw looked around but could not locate the source.

Flamingspirit growled something under his breath. Sparrowpaw stood, glancing at the kit that laid not too far away. She nudged him, and, with relief, found he was still breathing. Sparrowpaw picked up the kit. "I'm sorry, but I really must go, Flamingspirit," she meowed and started to pad away.

"Are you sure?" Flamingspirit called out after her.

"I'm pretty sure!"

"Don't you want to figure out how I escaped?"

Sparrowpaw halted. That was something that had been on her mind ever since she saw him. She turned her head slightly to look at him. Flamingspirit smiled, obviously happy to catch her attention.

"Fine. How did you escape from the battle?" Sparrowpaw asked, the kit muffling her words.

Flamingspirit sat down. "You may want to take a seat. I have a long story to explain."

Sparrowpaw sat down, putting the kit down on the ground. The kit looked up at her. "You! Cat! Are you part of MistClan?" he asked.

"Yes, little one," Sparrowpaw replied.

"You have to help me!"

"What's wrong?"

"Hawkkit! He led me and my littermates and his out into the forest! He claimed that he would be able to protect us and that we would be able to find the apprentices of FireClan that were attacked in the forest!"

"What?"

"It's true!"

"What's your name?"

"Eaglekit. I told Hawkkit this wouldn't work!"

"What happened to the others?"

Eaglekit shut his eyes tight in fear, and he yowled, "We were perfectly fine! We were trying to find the apprentices, when an apprentice of FireClan, by the smell of her, attacked us! I ran off to go get help! And I ran into you and those cats!"

"It's alright, it's alright! Take me there," Sparrowpaw mewed to him, "Flamingspirit, you're gonna have to wait here."

"That's fine by me, just come back," Flamingspirit responded.

Sparrowpaw picked up Eaglekit and raced off.

**(Later)**

"Stop!" the voice surprised Sparrowpaw and made her jump. She turned with Eaglekit still dangling in her mouth to find a reddish-brown tabby tom kit with a white muzzle.

"Hawkkit! You-" Eaglekit exclaimed before noticing Hawkkit's fur. Blood smeared Hawkkit's fur.

"What happened?" Sparrowpaw demanded.

**(Eaglekit's POV)**

Eaglekit stared at Hawkkit. "Where are the others?" he barely managed to ask.

Hawkkit's tail twitched for them to look behind him. Sparrowpaw, as Eaglekit had been introduced her name, set Eaglekit down and Eaglekit raced past Hawkkit. He skidded to a halt.

He bent down to nudge Pebblekit's limp body. "P-Pebblekit?" he stuttered. He kept nudging her but he knew the truth. Pebblekit's body was cold. She was dead.

Eaglekit's eyes brimmed with tears as he licked her blood-covered body. He looked past her and darted over to Fallingkit, to find his brother was also dead. Eaglekit looked around and saw all who were dead. Pebblekit. Fallingkit. Echokit. Sedgekit. All four of the kits were -Eaglekit could hardly bear to even think about it- dead. Eaglekit turned to his surviving brothers and sisters.

All of the survivors were unconscious. Eaglekit turned then to Hawkkit. "Hawkkit... what happened?"

"We... we just need to get back to MistClan," Hawkkit responded, his eyes defensive, but sadness still echoed in the deep of his green eyes.

"He's right," Sparrowpaw whispered. She began to pick up the kits, one by one, even the dead. Eaglekit dragged his three fallen siblings toward home with great effort.

**(Home)**

Eaglekit dragged Echokit, Pebblekit, and Fallingkit into camp. Hawkkit followed with Sedgekit, Nettlekit, and Flamekit. After the two kits, Sparrowpaw held Hollykit, Scarkit, Tawnykit, Longkit, and Fawnkit.

Poppyheart and Flowermist shrieked with anger and despair. Poppyheart skidded to a halt before Sedgekit, Flamekit, Nettlekit, Hollykit, and Hawkkit.

"My kits! My kits," she cried as she stared at Sedgekit's broken body.

"No! No! Echokit! No, Pebblekit! And Fallingkit! Why?!" Flowermist broke down onto the ground, sobbing.

Mintsplash hurried over to calm her sister and stopped when she saw Sparrowpaw. "My daughter," she whispered.

Sparrowpaw suddenly burst into tears. Sparrowpaw and Mintsplash hugged in silence, weeping at seeing one another again. A twig snapped and Eaglekit glanced behind him. An intruder!

**(Sparrowpaw's POV****)**

"Pale!" Sparrowpaw burst out at her friend. Pale stood, bruised and scratched, but alive. Sparrowpaw hadn't forgotten about her friend. Sparrowpaw had been so afraid that Pale had been slain by Tiger, probably Tigerstar, now. Might as well call him that.

Pale raced over to Sparrowpaw and Flameclaw tackled her. Pale hissed at the brown tabby as he raked his claws down her shoulder. Pale twisted around and kicked him away. Flameclaw sprang at her, snarling and biting at her shoulders. Pale snarled and struggled for a grip on his scruff. When she finally got a hold, Pale shook the tabby tom, making him swing back in forth like he was a kit.

Sparrowpaw's ears pricked. She had never seen the pale tabby in battle. Sparrowpaw had never imagined Pale to be so fierce. Pale now was on top of Flameclaw. She was still holding him by the scruff, but now she was raking her claws down his back. Rivertail jumped out of no where and sank her teeth into Pale's shoulder. Pale snarled as Flintstream came on Pale's other side. Soon, Tigerfur joined, trying to help his old mentor. Pale snarled angrily, her snarl sounding more like a low rumble.

Sparrowpaw stared with widened eyes as Pale transformed. The pale tabby was no longer a cat. No, Pale was now a sandy-colored wolf. Pale's transformed figure threw the cats away. Sparrowpaw's ears pricked as the wolf ripped Flintstream's throat into an open gash. Pale backed off of Flintstream. The tom struggled for breath as Foxpaw rushed over. Foxpaw struggled to save him, wrapping a leaf around his throat to give pressure. Sparrowpaw looked from side to side to find that there was no sign of Heartpelt. _Where is our medicine cat?_

"He's not going to make it," Foxpaw whispered. Sparrowpaw shut her eyes tight. Was it true? Could everything go wrong in one day?

**Me: Okay. So I want to basically give you an update upon the allegiances because of the jumble of cats and stuff and so you can see important cats of HeartClan.**_  
_

**MistClan  
**

**Leader Robinstar- reddish-brown tom with amber eyes  
**

**Deputy Whitestalker- white tom with black tail-tip and green eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Sparrowpaw  
**

**Medicine Cat Heartpelt- ginger she-cat with a white tail-tip and amber eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Foxpaw  
**

**Warriors  
**

**Bramblewish- brown tabby tom with blue eyes  
**

**Mintsplash- silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Dreamlight- ghostly pale ginger she-cat with bright green eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Rabbitpaw  
**

**Firecloud- ginger she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Junipertail- gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Shortfall- pale gray tabby tom with amber eyes  
**

**Spiderfoot- dark gray tom with green eyes  
**

**Pouncetail- fox-colored tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Wolfpelt- pale gray tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Sandfur- pale ginger she-cat with icy blue eyes  
**

**Beechclaw- ginger tabby tom with icy blue eyes and white paws  
**

**Tigerfur- brown tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Swiftfrost- white tom with green eyes  
**

**Snaketail- black tom with white tabby stripes and amber eyes  
**

**Flameclaw- brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
**

**Rivertail- silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
**

**Berryclaw- reddish-brown tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Hawkwing- fox-colored she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Spottedfrost- silver she-cat with white and black flecks with icy blue eyes  
**

**Snowsong- white she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Smokesplash- black tom with amber eyes  
**

**Fallowclaw- black tom with dark green eyes  
**

**Apprentices  
**

**Foxpaw- ginger tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
**

**Sparrowpaw- silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes with a brown-silver tail-tip  
**

**(Only FireClan refugees)  
**

**Queens  
**

**Flowermist- light brown tabby she-cat with dark green eyes, nursing Berryclaw's kits, Eaglekit (brown tabby tom with white eye-dots and green eyes), Scarkit (huge reddish-brown tom with black paws, amber eyes), Longkit (light brown tabby she-kit with amber eyes), Tawnykit (dark brown, black, and white tortoiseshell with dark green eyes), and Fawnkit (reddish-brown she-kit with white ear-tips, amber eyes)  
**

**Poppyheart- dark brown tabby she-cat with a white tail and green eyes, mother of Robinstar's kits, Hawkkit (reddish-brown tabby tom with a white muzzle and green eyes), Nettlekit (dark brown tabby she-kit with green eyes), Flamekit (reddish-ginger tom with amber eyes), and Hollykit (black she-kit with a dark brown underbelly and gray eyes)  
**

**Elders  
**

**Willowfur- brown she-cat with blue eyes  
**

**FireClan (Refugees from the earthquake in MistClan)  
**

**Leader Jaystar- blue-silver tom with amber eyes  
**

**Deputy Brightfrost- fiery ginger she-cat with gray eyes  
**

**Medicine Cat Flamefur- fiery ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Rosepaw  
**

**Warriors  
**

**Stormfire- fiery ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes  
**

**Squirrelfrost- white and ginger tom with dark blue eyes  
**

**Treewhisker- fox-colored tabby she-cat with green eyes  
**

**Streamclaw- blue-gray she-cat with dark blue eyes  
**

**Thistletail- dark ginger tom with white ear-tips and green eyes  
**

**Hollytail- pale ginger she-cat with green eyes  
**

**Brightfrost- fiery ginger she-cat with gray eyes  
**

**Talonwing- fox-colored tabby tom with a ginger muzzle and dark blue eyes  
**

**Dogfur- bright ginger tom with gray eyes  
**

**Rainfire- reddish-ginger tom with white flecks and gray eyes  
**

**Apprentices (Mentors placed as MistClan cats until further notice)  
**

**Leopardpaw- ginger and white she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Mentor- Sandfur  
**

**Rabbitpaw- pale ginger and white tom with dark blue eyes  
**

**Mentor- Dreamlight  
**

**Rosepaw- pale ginger she-cat with dark blue eyes  
**

**Quickpaw- fiery ginger tom with one white paw and gray eyes  
**

**Mentor- Beechclaw  
**

**Kestrelpaw- bright blue-silver tom with amber eyes  
**

**Mentor- Firecloud  
**

**Twigpaw- fox-colored tom with green eyes and a dark ginger tail-tip  
**

**Mentor- Wolfpelt  
**

**Lowpaw- dark ginger tom with a white underbelly and green eyes  
**

**Mentor- Shortfall  
**

**Queens  
**

**Pinefur- dark ginger she-cat with green eyes, mother of Talonwing's kits, Icekit (white she-kit with one ginger ear, dark blue eyes), and Dawnkit (dusky gray she-kit with green eyes)  
**

**Elders  
**

**Mistyheart- pale ginger she-cat with gray eyes  
**

**ShadeClan (grouped together in resistance of HeartClan)  
**

**Leader Pinestar- black tom with icy blue eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Lynxpaw  
**

**Deputy Tawnyfur- dark brown she-cat with black patches and green eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Rowanpaw  
**

**Medicine Cat Blackfeather- black tom with dark gray eyes  
**

**Warriors  
**

**Dustfur- dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Olivepaw  
**

**Rustflight- tortoiseshell tom with yellow eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Yellowpaw  
**

**Duskfoot- black she-cat with white paws and yellow eyes  
**

**Apprentices- Velvetpaw, Ratpaw  
**

**Apprentices  
**

**Olivepaw- dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes  
**

**Lynxpaw- gray tabby tom with yellow eyes  
**

**Yellowpaw- tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes  
**

**Velvetpaw- tortoiseshell and white she-cat with yellow eyes  
**

**Ratpaw- dark gray tom with yellow eyes  
**

**Rowanpaw- tortoiseshell tom with bright ginger patches, yellow eyes  
**

**Queens  
**

**Nightclaw- black she-cat with amber eyes, mother of Dustfur's kits, Ivykit (dark brown, almost black she-kit with blue eyes), Hissingkit (black tom with reddish-amber eyes), Poolkit (shadowy gray she-kit with pool blue eyes), and Bloodkit (dark brown she-cat with a dark red sheen to her fur, amber eyes)  
**

**Elders  
**

**None**

**HeartClan  
**

**Leader Tigerstar- scarred, muscular fox-colored tabby tom with white paws, gray eyes**

**Deputy Splashwhisker- brown she-cat with a white splotch on her right eye, amber eyes  
**

**Medicine Cat Birdnose- golden tabby she-cat with green eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Lilypaw (formerly of ShadeClan)  
**

**Warriors  
**

**Shifttail- white and golden tabby tom with blue eyes  
**

**Moonwish- black and white she-cat with green eyes  
**

**Dappleshade- dark gray and black she-cat and her right paw is white with green eyes  
**

**Maplefur- dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Snaketree- cream-colored tom with green eyes  
**

**Clawbark- pale ginger and cream tom with gray eyes  
**

**Gorsetooth- golden brown tom with amber eyes  
**

**Burningtail- ginger tom with light blue eyes  
**

**Talonfoot- dusty brown tom with light blue eyes  
**

**Cliptail- lithe light brown she-cat with green eyes and a clipped tail-tip  
**

**Longfur- long-furred white she-cat with blue eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Lostpaw  
**

**Stonedust- gray tabby tom with a white underbelly and chest, green eyes  
**

**Owlfern- gray-flecked dark gray she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Pepperpaw  
**

**Brokenthorn- brown tabby tom with gray eyes  
**

**Goldseeker- golden-brown she-cat with white paws, amber eyes  
**

**Cinderrock- pale gray she-cat with a white tail-tip and green eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Webpaw  
**

**Riverheart- blue-gray she-cat with gray eyes  
**

**Sandslash- pale ginger tom with amber eyes  
**

**Graywhisker- gray tabby tom with amber eyes  
**

**Seedface- black tom with brown points, blue eyes  
**

**Apprentice- Sootpaw  
**

**(ShadeClan warriors)  
**

**Raggedstar- dark gray she-cat with icy blue eyes (former leader of ShadeClan)  
**

**Featherlight- black she-cat with green eyes (former deputy of ShadeClan)  
**

**Brokenheart- dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
**

**Shadowfall- black tabby tom with yellow eyes  
**

**Deadfeather- black tabby tom with gray paws and amber eyes  
**

**Lizardheart- dark gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes (former mate of Rustflight and mother of Olivepaw, Velvetpaw, Rowanpaw, Ratpaw, Yellowpaw, and Lynxpaw)  
**

**Apprentices  
**

**Webpaw- gray tabby tom with green eyes  
**

**Lostpaw- black tom with gray eyes and a white tail-tip  
**

**Sootpaw- dark gray tom with blue eyes  
**

**Pepperpaw- black, white, and gray-flecked dark gray she-cat with green eyes  
**

**Lilypaw- dark brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
**

**Queens  
**

**Ambereyes- gray and white she-cat with piercing amber eyes, mother of Seedface's kits, Ashkit (gray and white tom with amber eyes), Leafkit (black she-kit with brown points and amber eyes), Ravenkit (black tom with piercing blue eyes), and Darkkit (dark gray and black tom with piercing blue eyes)  
**

**Elders  
**

**None  
**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12  
**

Blood spattered Sparrowpaw's face as she watched Pale's wolf body fight off the cats who were jumping upon her. Sparrowpaw knew she should say something, but her jaw seemed frozen. Sparrowpaw was glued to the ground, watching Pale. Her heart was beating so hard, she felt like it was going to rip out of her chest.

Robinstar raced into camp with a mouthful of fresh-kill. He dropped it on the ground and stared in horror at his cats who were falling one by one from the wolf. Shortfall bristled as his search party entered the camp with Twigpaw and Lowpaw. The two apprentices snarled and leapt at Pale. Twigpaw and Lowpaw attacked and were flung away from Pale when she grabbed Bramblewish in her teeth and threw him at them. Twigpaw and Lowpaw made a break for the nursery and defended it, snarling.

"Stop!" Sparrowpaw screeched. Every cat looked up at her from where she stood upon Tallrock. Sparrowpaw's eyes glowed as though she were a StarClan cat. In fact, she looked like one. Sparrowpaw's claws were unsheathed and her lips drawn back in a snarl. No one could have looked more like a leader.

All of a sudden, the faded image of another cat appeared next to Sparrowpaw. She turned to see a gray tom with a white underbelly and chest. "Who are you?" she asked, but the tom disappeared instantly.

Sparrowpaw looked back down at the cats to see that Pale was a cat once more, her pale tabby pelt sticky with blood. Sparrowpaw's friend glared at the other cats, panting.

A shriek of horror came from the cats and Sparrowpaw looked over to find Robinstar, lying upon the ground, his body motionless. He was dead. Foxpaw sprang over to him and sniffed him urgently. An ominous silence settled over the camp as they waited. After a long time, Poppyheart began to wail, "He's dead! My mate's dead!"

Foxpaw flattened her ears and Sparrowpaw could tell that Poppyheart was probably right. But then, Robinstar surfaced. He gasped and spluttered, coughing up blood.

"How many?" Foxpaw urgently asked him.

"I... barely... made it... all eight of my other lives... are gone..." Robinstar coughed.

Fear surged through Sparrowpaw. "Where's Whitestalker?" Snaketail spoke up frantically. The warrior was looking desperately for his brother amongst the wreckage of what used to be the apprentices' den. "Where is he?" Snaketail's voice cracked in fear.

"I'm... here..." the familiar raspy voice of Whitestalker came from the rubble. Snaketail pulled his brother out and wailed when he saw how badly injured Whitestalker was. Whitestalker was bleeding in several places, and his left hind leg was twisted awkwardly.

Snaketail pulled his brother into the medicine cats' den, and Heartpelt sprinted into camp. She shrieked in horror and raced into her den. Robinstar struggled onto Tallrock next to Sparrowpaw. "Until we know of Whitestalker's condition," Robinstar rasped. "We will wait and see about a new deputy. First, I would like to announce some new warriors. Twigpaw and Lowpaw have shown excellent fighting skills and are ready to become warriors. They are of FireClan, so I will allow Jaystar to speak."

Robinstar dipped his head to Jaystar as the leaders switched places. Once upon Tallrock, Jaystar announced, "I, Jaystar, leader of FireClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him a warrior to you in his turn." Jaystar turned to Twigpaw and continued, "Twigpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Twigpaw barely managed to speak words.

"Then by the powers of StarClan," Jaystar went on, "I give you your warrior name. Twigpaw, from now on you will be known as Twigpath. StarClan honors your loyalty and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of FireClan." Jaystar leapt down from Tallrock and placed his head upon the new warrior's. Twigpath licked his shoulder in response.

Jaystar leapt back upon Tallrock and continued, "Lowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Lowpaw's voice was filled with happiness.

"Then by the powers of StarClan," Jaystar meowed, "I give you your warrior name. Lowpaw, from now on you will be known as Lowpelt. We welcome you as a full warrior of FireClan."

"Twigpath! Lowpelt! Twigpath! Lowpelt!" the cats from both Clans yowled.

"We made it!" a yowl interrupted everyone. The cats looked up to see Kestrelpaw and Quickpaw, smiling with happiness. Quickpaw and Kestrelpaw were immediately overwhelmed by cats. And for the first time that leaf-bare, it snowed. The cats rushed to their dens as it snowed. And snowed and snowed and snowed.

"Scooch over, Pouncetail! You too, Dreamlight!" Firecloud hissed. Sparrowpaw also found the apprentices' den quite crowded. Hawkwing's kits had decided to stay in the apprentices' den due to the lack of space, but now, the apprentices' den was crowded, too.

**(That Night)**

Sparrowpaw awoke once more in the Dark Forest. She stared up at the pale, sickly light of the Place of No Stars. Sparrowpaw looked around for Brackenstar, but the golden tabby was no where to be seen.

"Who are you?" snarled a cat from the shadows.

Sparrowpaw whipped around to glare at the shadowy figure. "I should ask you the same thing," Sparrowpaw retorted angrily. The Dark Forest wasn't supposed to be filled with strangers!

"I'm Eclipsepaw," the she-cat growled. "There! Now you know my name! What's yours? Unless you're so dumb you've forgotten it."

Sparrowpaw was about to give a stinging reply, when a black tom with yellow eyes and yellow, gnarled teeth stepped out to the other side. "Back off, Eclipsepaw! Stop bugging Sparrowpaw!" the tom snarled.

Eclipsepaw stepped out of the bushes. Her sleek black pelt was quite attractive, Sparrowpaw had to admit it. The young she-cat's icy blue eyes were sharp with intelligence. "Fine. I'll stop. But this isn't completely over."

"Well, then you can fight it out!" the black tom hissed with fury. Sparrowpaw jumped at his sudden anger.

"Good. Let's see how good you are," Eclipsepaw challenged Sparrowpaw.

Sparrowpaw smiled, the excitement of a battle sending surges of energy through her from ears to tail-tip. Eclipsepaw lunged, trying to pin Sparrowpaw to the ground. Sparrowpaw slipped to the side easily, letting Eclipsepaw crash to the ground. Without a moment's hesitation, Sparrowpaw leaped at the apprentice. Sparrowpaw's claws slid out just before she hit Eclipsepaw. Sparrowpaw crashed into the FireClan apprentice with fury. Her claws twitched for vengeance on Eclipsepaw's hostility. Sparrowpaw raked her claws down Eclipsepaw's belly.

Eclipsepaw, by the look Sparrowpaw caught, was fearful of losing, and immediately pushed Sparrowpaw off with her hind paws. Sparrowpaw growled and skidded away, remaining on her paws. Eclipsepaw darted forward, and Sparrowpaw leaped over the apprentice without hesitation. Eclipsepaw twisted to watch Sparrowpaw soar over her before the silver tabby landed lightly upon the ground, and whipped around to face her.

"Caught by surprise, were you?" Sparrowpaw taunted her.

Eclipsepaw snarled viciously, giving the effect Sparrowpaw had hoped for. The black she-cat was so caught up with rage that she wasn't thinking clearly, and Sparrowpaw was taking advantage of that. Sparrowpaw leaped into the air as Eclipsepaw began to brace herself for a pounce, and landed on the FireClan cat's back. Eclipsepaw struggled to remain standing, but Sparrowpaw's weight was slowly dragging her toward the ground. Eclipsepaw growled with fury and irritation as she collapsed. Sparrowpaw raked her claws down Eclipsepaw's back and sprang away from the tiring black she-cat. Sparrowpaw glared at Eclipsepaw. She could tell that Eclipsepaw was wearing now, tiring out.

Eclipsepaw staggered to her paws and pounced sloppily. Sparrowpaw leaped at Eclipsepaw and the two she-cats hit one another, but Sparrowpaw was stronger than Eclipsepaw, and soon Sparrowpaw found herself standing atop Eclipsepaw, a grin upon her face at her triumph.

"Well done!" a familiar voice made Sparrowpaw look up, but her claws remained firmly upon Eclipsepaw. The golden tabby pelt of Brackenstar slid out to stand beside the black tom. Brackenstar was smiling with a look that definitely meant that Sparrowpaw had done all he had hoped for.

"You can get off me now," Eclipsepaw hissed at Sparrowpaw.

"Oh, right," Sparrowpaw mumbled, and backed off of Eclipsepaw. She turned to Brackenstar. "So I did well?"

The black tom smiled with a hungry look. "Most definitely. You are perfection. I see now what you did. First, you used the element of surprise by immediately leaping at Eclipsepaw. Eclipsepaw expected you to pause for a moment, but you did not hesitate, therefore, you got the upper hand," the tom explained. "Then, you were thrown off of Eclipsepaw, but you made sure you still had your paws. You also leapt over Eclipsepaw when she charged, allowing you to leave the attack without a single scratch. After that, you excellently taunted Eclipsepaw to where she was so caught up in her rage that she wasn't paying any attention to her training. When she hesitated before preparing to pounce, you took advantage of it and leaped onto Eclipsepaw's back. Eclipsepaw was still very enraged, and so she didn't roll as she should of. If she had done that, she would have been fine," the black tom gave Eclipsepaw a meaningful look, "So, she was slowly dragged to the ground before she finally collapsed. Then, you raked your claws down her back and leaped away, knowing that Eclipsepaw would be tiring. Because Eclipsepaw was tired, her pounce was sloppy, and it allowed you to easily leap at her and push her to the ground because the force of her pounce wasn't nearly as strong and sturdy as yours. Therefore, you pinned Eclipsepaw down and it was over. You did wonderful, Sparrowpaw."

Sparrowpaw dipped her head and responded, "Thank you. Might I ask what your name is?"

"I am Shadestar, the founder of ShadeClan. I am also the brother of Falconstar, the founder of all the Clans and leader of StarClan," Shadestar meowed plainly, as though it didn't matter that his brother was perhaps the most powerful cat ever known. _Can StarClan have a leader? _Sparrowpaw wondered.

She turned to Brackenstar. "Who else is visiting here?" she demanded.

Brackenstar nodded. "You deserve to know. You also deserve to know some more of the Dark Forest cats," he replied.

Sparrowpaw felt a bit giddy with excitement. She sat down and tried to act more formal. "Very well," she mewed, but she couldn't help but have an edge of excitement in her voice.

Brackenstar twitched his tail. "Come," he beckoned.

**Me: Time to meet people! In the next chapter anyway!**

**Sparrowpaw: And things are happening!**

**Splashwhisker: I hate everyone in the whole wide world! Muahahahahahahahahahahaha!**

**Foxpaw: Okay...**

**Heartpelt: I'm tired.**

**Robinstar: What in the name of StarClan is going on?!**

**Shadestar: I am in the Dark Forest! Meh!**

**Brackenstar: I'm scared.**

**Sparrowpaw: Yay!**

**I do not own, or claim to have cheese, for the sprinkles on my cheesecake.**

**Me: :D Nice job, Foxpaw!**

**Foxpaw: Yay!**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Sparrowpaw stared at Willowflower, Suntail, Icetail, Clawswipe, and Waspstorm. Willowflower was a gray tabby she-cat with green eyes, Suntail was a golden tom with white paws and amber eyes, Icetail was a silver tabby she-cat, Clawswipe was a black tom with a dark gray chest spot, and Waspstorm was a golden tabby tom with a white underbelly and amber eyes.

Brackenstar stood beside Sparrowpaw. _These cats are all dead! _Sparrowpaw thought with horror. The cats of the Dark Forest were unkempt, but they still looked alive. Sparrowpaw could barely glance at Leopardpaw and Dogfur standing there along with Sootpaw and Lostpaw and Deadfeather. All were cats from Clans. And they were alive. Lostpaw's black pelt was obviously of ShadeClan origin, even his white tail-tip was correct. Sootpaw was also ShadeClan. His dark gray pelt proved that.

"Are you three family?" Sparrowpaw cautiously asked the three, apparently ShadeClan cats. Deadfeather twitched his tail in response. "I have to go." Sparrowpaw glanced at the sky, wondering what time it was, but somehow she sensed that it was near dawn.

"_We _have to go," Deadfeather corrected her.

Sparrowpaw curled up, thinking about the Dark Forest cats, dead and alive. She wondered what the cats of the Dark Forest were planning to do. Everything faded and Sparrowpaw awoke to find herself in the apprentices' den.

Sparrowpaw let out a long yawn. She stretched and sat up, staring out of the den. The camp was covered in snow, the white stuff covered the ground like leaves, but thicker. Sparrowpaw dared to touch the snow, alarm rising through her when she realized how cold it was. A shriek came from the nursery and Sparrowpaw looked up to see Hollykit and Nettlekit floundering excitedly in the snow.

_Well, if they can do it, so can I, _Sparrowpaw reassured herself, and stepped into the snow. She shivered at how cold it was, but it felt good on her pads. Sparrowpaw laughed and walked over to the fresh-kill pile. She chuckled when she saw all of the fresh-kill pile as just a mound of snow. Sparrowpaw turned to see Pale striding from the leader's den and the smile faded from her face. Sparrowpaw watched her friend head angrily to the medicine cats' den, her pelt still unkempt with scratches and gashes made by the MistClan and Fireclan cats.

Sparrowpaw worried over Pale, she didn't know if the pale tabby had been accepted to remain here or not, but it seemed as though she was only allowed to stay until her wounds were healed. Sparrowpaw headed into the medicine cats' den just in time to hear Foxpaw cheering the tabby up.

"It's alright Pale! I'm sure Robinstar's just a little upset. He gets a bit... childish sometimes," Foxpaw chuckled.

Surprisingly, Pale was apparently starting to cheer up by that. "I guess you're right. But what if I don't make it into the Clan?" Pale worried.

"Oh, you'll be fine. After all, Sparrowpaw trusts you, and Robinstar trusts Sparrowpaw, so I think you'll be perfectly fine!" Foxpaw reassured her. This was news to Sparrowpaw, though. She didn't know Robinstar trusted her that much.

Pale smiled. "Okay, Foxpaw! Hey, you should really become a medicine cat now! Speaking of medicine cats, where's Heartpelt? She's been gone all the time now," Pale meowed.

"Oh, well," Foxpaw's face flushed, and Sparrowpaw could tell she was trying to search for the correct words. "Um... She's just a bit nervous that FireClan cats are in our camp, that's all."

Pale studied her, but she meowed, "You know, I had a dream last night." She lowered her voice. "I heard a prophecy. _When the stars fall, all will be revealed to those who need it._"

Sparrowpaw stared at Pale with confusion. She didn't listen to Foxpaw's reply. Sparrowpaw turned and hurried away. _When the stars fall, all will be revealed to those who need it. What does that mean? _Sparrowpaw sat down by the fresh-kill pile and stared up at the sky, wondering what the prophecy could possibly mean.

**Me: That is the end of this book. The next book shall be called, As the Star Blazes.**

**I do not own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.**


End file.
